Laro ng bata? Lack of accountability led gov’t to cancel peace talks with communists: Duterte

By Prince Golez

The failure of the Communist Party of the Philippines to hold its members accountable for the killing of government forces and civilians led to the termination of the peace process, President Rodrigo Duterte said.

On Thursday, Duterte said he permanently ended peace negotiations with communist rebels because the latter did not agree to discipline and punish those who committed crimes.

“Kaya ‘yan bumagsak ‘yung peace talks eh. Lahat nang binigay na mga proposals, binigay ko rin sa military, sabi ko, ‘you study’. Pero ako talaga pagtanggap ko, hindi na. And there was this one missing ingredient to arrive really at a peaceful resolution of the conflict, ‘yung accountability wala,” he said in his speech at the joint meeting of the National Task Force and Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

“If they have any against us or against them, wala, at ayaw nilang i-discuss ‘yan. Sabi ko, no peace talks. We will fight forever if ako ang masunod. Paano ‘yung namatay? Paano ‘yung biktima nila na sabihin mo lang na peace talks na maglamano tayo? Ano ito, laro ng bata?” he added.

On November 23, 2017, Duterte signed Proclamation 360 declaring the termination of peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-New People’s Army (NPA).

The following month, the President signed Proclamation 273 that declared the CPP and NPA as terrorist organizations.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)