President Duterte asks military, police to be "extra" friendly to communists, might yield to some leftist demands

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 25): President Duterte asks military, police to be "extra" friendly to communists, might yield to some leftist demands

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday urged the military and police to be “extra” friendly to members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) in light of their ongoing peace negotiation with the government.

In a press briefing in Davao, the President expressed his willingness to free the other political prisoners.

He said he is also inclined to yield to some of their demands in pursuit of lasting peace, hoping this could end years of communist rebellion in the country.

The President asked the military and the police to refrain from any “bloody confrontation” and to forget the hostilities for the meantime, as peace talks in Oslo, Norway are underway.

He ordered both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to immediately honor the truce he had declared and cease from attacking the NPA.

“So I’m joining the Communist Party of the Philippines in its desire to seek peace for this nation,” he said.

“We avoid hostile actions against each other, we do not go into any antagonistic behavior in front of whoever and as a matter of fact, I am encouraging people in the government, the military and the police to be friendly with the forces of the revolutionary government of the Communist Party of the Philippines,“ he said.

“As President, my main task is to seek the peace for my country. I am not a President who would enjoy waging war against the citizens of this Republic,” he added.

The President became emotional when he said that it pains him deeply to see people dying for an ideology.

“Pwede naman nating mapag-usapan ng mapayapa (We can hold a dialogue in a peaceful manner), just like now. I would have just also wondered bakit kailangan pa tayo magpatayan (why we have to kill each other) for 45 years only to end up, which is really a significant event for everybody. Ngayon palang, mag-usap naman tayo. (Only now, let us talk.) And to think there’s so many lives lost both for government and on the other side,” he said.

The President said issues on poverty and housing problems, which are part of the roots of the communist insurgency in the country, should have been addressed a long time ago.

“That is my regret for my nation that sana noon pa ito, wala na masyadong patayan at magagamit ko pa yung pera para sa mga mahirap na Pilipino (that it should have been addressed a long time ago so that killing would have been avoided and we could have used the money for the poor),” he said.

The President expressed optimism that the government’s conflict with the communists shall be resolved under his term and in his lifetime.

As for the demands of the NPA, the armed wing of the communists, the President said he is even willing to release money and lands to them.

“But there’s so much land in the Philippines, and I could… Sabihin lang nila (Just tell me) and I would give them everything,” he said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=917248