Sison free to return to Manila, but not impose talk conditions — Palace

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Monday reiterated its security guarantees to Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison, who is on exile in the Netherlands, should he choose to come home but stressed that the rebel leader was not in a position to impose conditions for his return.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also emphasized that the 60-day talks were crucial as these could be the last chance for both sides to forge an elusive peace deal.

“This is really the last chance. This is the last chance, and I think CPP-NPA knows this,” he said in a radio interview.

President Rodrigo Duterte over the weekend gave peace negotiators 60 days to revive stalled peace negotiations with Maoist rebels, who have been waging an armed movement for the past five decades.

He also extended an invitation to Sison to come home during the two-month period, saying that his safety would be guaranteed.

In response, Sison said that he would return to the Philippines from the Netherlands, where he has been in exile since 1987 if “a significant advance in the peace negotiations” has been achieved.

Roque tried to reassure the public that Duterte had not acceded to rebel demands aside from his security guarantee.

“I don’t know if he’s in a position to provide for conditions. What the president said was if peace talks were resumed he’s welcome to come home,” Roque said in a press briefing in the presidential palace.

“The president will assure (sic) his security, and the fact that he will not be arrested. Beyond that, the president has not acceded to,” he said.

Roque, however, said that the Philippine government could not guarantee that Sison would not be arrested by foreign authorities considering that he was on the American list of foreign terrorist organizations.

He said that Sison’s liberty could only be guaranteed once he was already in the Philippines.

When asked how Sison would go home if there was a chance that he would be arrested on his way to Manila, Roque said: “It’s up to him. Perhaps he should take Philippine Airlines. It’s the only way.”

Roque also failed to clarify when the president’s 60-day period for the revival of the peace talks would commence and only said that its reckoning would start “as soon as both sides have clearly agreed to resume peace talks.”

Negotiations between the Philippine government and rebels have been in an on-again-off-again mode for years.

Both sides have blamed each other for the floundering negotiations as they accused the other camp of waging armed attacks despite ongoing talks.

In recent months, Duterte has slammed the rebels, claiming they are making unrealistic demands to lay down their arms such as a coalition government, in addition to their continuing collection of so-called revolutionary taxes.

Duterte’s spokesman said that despite these complex issues 60 days was not short as the only item on the parties’ agenda was addressing the root causes of rebellion.

“The problem is we’ve been talking with for years and years, and years,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s a divergence of views on the root causes of rebellion. It is poverty. If the government and the CPP-NPA agree to address the root causes then it should not even take 60 days,” Roque added.