Palace tells Joma: Go home if you want to help
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday insisted that the Philippine government was not at fault for the continuous termination of peace negotiations with communist rebels.
Last week, National Democratic Front founding chair Joma Sison said that the communist group could no longer negotiate with the Duterte administration.
Sison said the Communist Party of the Philippines would rather join efforts to oust the president.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that Sison cannot overthrow the government while he is out of the country.
"Joma Sison, wake up, you're dreaming. You cannot overthrow a government while you are in Europe. You've been there for so long, go home and live here in the Philippines," Roque said in Filipino during a press briefing in Southern Leyte.
Roque added that the government gave the communist rebels a chance when CPP leaders were freed to join peace talks in Norway.
The government also guaranteed Sison that he would not be arrested if he decides to go home for the peace negotiations, Roque said.
"But Joma Sison is arrogant, he thinks that he is the country's savior," the Malacañang spokesman said.
Amid botched peace talks between the communist rebels and the government, the Department of Justice has moved for the cancellation of temporary liberty of NDF consultants Benito Tiamzon, Adelberto Silva, Rafael Baylosis, Randall Echanis, Vicente Ladlad and Alan Jazmines.
Meanwhile, Sison accused Duterte of being the "biggest spoiler" of the peace talks.
"He continues to repeat ad nauseam his demand that the venue of negotiations should be in Manila under his control, surveillance, manipulation and duress," Sison said in a statement released Saturday.
The CPP also called Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana a "war promoter and consummate militarist" after backing Duterte's anti-peace talks policy.
Lorenzana earlier told Sison that he was irrelevant without the peace talks and that the government would instead focus on localized peace talks in the absence of the NDF founding chair.
"Mr. Sison, you know that the peace talks is the only thing that is keeping you in the limelight. Without it you are irrelevant. You also know that the president can terminate the talks, and this is why you are desperately using reverse psychology and intimidation to save it," Lorenzana said.
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