Leftist rebels slam ‘unfulfilled’ Duterte peace vows

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) - The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has criticized President Rodrigo Duterte for “his unfulfilled peace vows” amid ongoing negotiations with rebels.

In a statement released late Wednesday, the CPP denounced Duterte's “failure” to release political prisoners as well as his deployment of troops in rural communities -- a move the group described as resulting in “rampant military abuses against the peasant masses”.

Duterte’s administration remains in discussion with the Philippines' communist movement in an effort to end a 47-year-old conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people in the longest-running communist insurgency in Asia.

The two sides had declared their own unilateral ceasefires amid an August meeting, but both have since complained of reported violations.

After the CPP warned earlier this month that it may end its unilateral ceasefire if the government fails to release political prisoners, Duterte rejected a plea to free 130 further inmates saying he had “already conceded so much”.

"The Party calls for peace rallies nationwide on December 26 to demonstrate the Filipino people’s unity for a just and lasting peace to coincide with the celebration of the Party’s 48th anniversary," the CPP said in its statement.

"The Party urges all sectors of society desirous of a just and lasting peace to join and support these demonstrations,” it added, calling on representatives from Duterte’s administration to also attend “in order to hear for themselves the people’s outcries for peace”.

On Wednesday, the government’s chief peace negotiator said the ceasefire committees of the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) -- the CPP’s political wing -- would meet during the last week of December under efforts to reach a consensus on key issues relating to the drafting of a bilateral ceasefire deal.

“Hopefully, if they reach an agreement, we may have to go on a special trip just for the signing of the joint bilateral permanent ceasefire. I’m emphasizing permanent, because it could result in to the end of hostilities, which is one of the main objective of the peace process,” Silvestre Bello III was quoted as saying by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The peace panels of the two sides are also due to meet in Rome next month.

The CPP statement accused Duterte of having “capriciously changed his mind” in terms of the release of political prisoners and the signing of a bilateral ceasefire agreement.

It said the ceasefire by the CPP’s armed wing -- the New People’s Army (NPA) -- has lasted 110 days, making it “the longest yet” and “showing the extent of the revolutionary forces’ willingness to boost efforts to forge cooperative relations with Duterte who once declared himself a Leftist and socialist”.

It also said the NPA “has bent over backwards and carried out evasion maneuvers in the face of treacherous AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] offensive and hostile operations and military abuses by Duterte’s armed troops within the sphere of NPA guerrilla zones and bases”.

While the NDF claims that 434 rebels are in detention across the Philippines, the government peace panel has reportedly submitted a list of 200 prisoners to be released.

The conflict, which has been waged since March 1969, has claimed more than 3,000 lives over the past eight years.