Category: news reports

Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison (Joma) of Friday accused President Rodrigo Duterte as the number 1 terrorist in the country for allegedly running amok, slandering people under the guise of fighting terrorism.

Sison warned that in the case of the counterinsurgency campaign, “the list of surrenderers serves as the basis for the military to fulfill their quota of killing revolutionary suspects at the variable rates of P25,000 to P100,000 per head, depending on the rank ascribable to the victim,” referring to Duterte’s recent offers of bounties for slain rebels

“You are dealing with fake news and fake claims from the Duterte war machinery. You get a lot of deception from the Duterte regime, aside from mass murder and rising prices of basic goods and services,” Sison added.

Pacific Eagle appears to be a major escalation of U.S. intervention in the Philippines at a time when tensions in the Korean Peninsula are becoming explosive and when China is transitioning from a regional to a global power. And just as in Plan Colombia, there is both the regional and the internal dimension.

Stressing the rebels were “always willing to negotiate peace” with Duterte or someone else, Sison, who is now chief political consultant of the NDFP, said: “It takes two sides in the current civil war in the Philippines to agree to negotiate with each other and arrive at comprehensive agreements on social, economic and political reforms to lay the basis of a just and lasting peace.”

“The NDFP is ever ready to negotiate with the GRP as soon as the GRP [or GPH, meaning government of the Philippines] ceases to terminate the peace negotiations and allows its negotiating panel to negotiate with its NDFP counterpart,’ Sison said in a statement sent to INQUIRER.net.

“We laud Norway’s special envoy for exerting efforts to revive the peace talks,” said Ryan Amper, spokesperson of Barug Katungod Mindanao.

He said it was important for the talks to resume so that the government and the NDF can finalize the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (Caser), which was seen to address poverty—the root cause of the insurgency.

“…To make his tantrums more impressive, Duterte prated about an independent foreign policy, either by playing down the U.S. and playing up China and Russia, or simply by playing off one foreign power against another to his advantage…
…All the while [as Duterte made his anti-U.S. comments] … Lorenzana was assuring the CIA and Pentagon that Duterte was under control and was ready to play ball with his friend and psycho-political lookalike, Trump,” Sison added…
…The clear rebound in U.S.-Philippine relations was confirmed last November, when Duterte sang a Filipino love song to Trump, “upon the orders of the commander-in-chief of the United States” (as he put it), that included evocative lyrics that translate as: “You are the light in my world, a half of this heart of mine.”

Sison emphasized in his statement that the NPA forces are robust enough to damage government forces. Sison said they can “eliminate” 510 government troops or some 5 companies every month nationwide.

In a statement, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said Duterte is being called “duti” (poison) by the Maranaos and Iranon for having proclaimed martial law against them and having brought death and destruction during the siege of Marawi City.