Topic: amnesty

Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency has been nothing short of controversial. Ever since he was elected as the 16th President of the Philippines two years ago, he has drawn criticism from activists and leaders the world over. Most recently, Duterte was condemned for forcibly kissing an overseas Filipina worker on the lips during a live event.

“Duterte and Dureza want nothing but the immediate capitulation of the revolutionary movement under the guise of an indefinite ceasefire and killing the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations,” he told ABS-CBN News from Utrecht.

“It is most reasonable that the June 28 resumption of formal peace talks proceed in Oslo. The agreements to be signed under the general title of interim peace agreement are well within the competence of the negotiating panels. However, Duterte or his Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea can grace the occasion and co-witness with me the signing of the agreement,” Sison told Kodao.

Sison said the thrice-cancelled fifth round of formal talks shall push through on June 28 to 30, contrary to GRP President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest statement that the negotiations would resume sometime in mid-July.

Suspended by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in May last year after he was enraged by heightened offensives by the NDFP’s military arm New People’s Army (NPA), the resumption of the formal talks is expected to be highlighted by the signing of an interim peace agreement that could set the stage for the final resolution of the 50-year Communist insurgency.

His detractors today deliberately understate Sison’s incarceration as if this was a sacrifice and punishment he deserved to endure as a communist ideologue. They would appear inconsistent and lose credibility in vilifying Sison’s integrity as a person and revolutionary if it’s emphasized that he bravely defied the tyrant as a writer, activist, guerilla, and prisoner.

Latest suggestion from the GRP is to start the stand down on June 21 instead of June 14. The exact date will be known only from the joint announcement to be made by the GRP and NDFP on or about June 9.

“For sure I shall return to the Philippines after the signing of the interim peace agreement, which is already being prepared for June, and the subsequent mutual approval of the comprehensive agreement on social and economic reforms by the GRP and NDFP either in July or August,” Sison said.

Sison in a statement on Saturday, May 26, bared NDFP’s plan for him to meet with Duterte at the signing of the Interim Peace Agreement that includes a ceasefire agreement and the long-standing demand for an amnesty proclamation for around 500 political prisoners in the country.

As initially agreed, President Rodrigo Duterte was set to attend the signing of the interim peace agreement. However, Sison said the government side “backed out and offered” Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to represent Duterte.