President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday once again slammed the Communist Party of the Philippines, especially its founder Jose Maria Sison, pointing out that the Communist ideology is dead, and Communism is a “discredited theory.”
The chief executive made these remarks during the joint meeting of the National Task Force-Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-RTF-ELCAC) in Tacloban City.
According to President Duterte, he did everything he can to negotiate with the Communist group but to no avail.
“I cannot fathom the brain of Sison. However you pick it, wala na eh (there is nothing left). He has, I don’t know if (it’s) dementia or something. He keeps on transferring from one topic to another, that finally I thought that peace through negotiation sa kanila hindi puwede (negotiation with them will no longer work). So nag-give up na ako (So I have given up),” he admitted.
“Ngayon, 53 years after, wala akong nakitang na-achieve ng komunista. (Now 53 years after, I don’t see anything that the Communists achieved.) Wala akong nakitang progress sa kalihukan (movement) ( I did not see any progress in the movement) rather it has become a group of bandits solely,” he added.
As part of the government’s efforts to end the five-decade insurgency, the chief executive also announced the distribution of 2,334 hectares of land to former rebels in Eastern Visayas. This aims to encourage more rebels to surrender.
“Kami ang makabigay ng lupa sa inyo, legal. Maipasa na ninyo sa inyong mga anak. May lupa sila. Maliit ang mundo ngayon. Maski na lang may dalawa, tatlong ektarya ka, you should thank God that you have a piece of land under the sun. Ang iba nga wala. Ito, bigay na sa inyo,” he stated.
The NTF-RTF-ELCAC meeting, which the President spearheaded, provided an avenue for national and local officials to discuss the most recent accomplishments of the Task Force in Eastern Visayas, alongside other topics such as the socio-economic overview and security situation in the region.
On December 4, 2018, the President issued Executive Order (EO) No. 70 that created the NTF-ELCAC and institutionalized a whole-of-nation approach towards achieving sustainable peace. – Mela Lesmoras
