No coalition governement with Reds, Duterte insists

MANILA, Philippines — After the exchanges between the government and the communists, what’s next for the peace talks?

Even President Duterte does not know, but he nevertheless remains firm on the conditions he set for the negotiations. 

One of the conditions is that communist negotiators should not push for a coalition government, a setup that Duterte claimed would require him to share power with the rebels. 

“I was reading again the entire (proposal)... it still ends to power sharing and coalition (government). I will show you the matrix that I made,” Duterte said during the inauguration of Malayan Colleges in Davao City last Saturday. 

“When you sum it up, it boils down to power sharing or coalition government, which I cannot give to them because it is not within the power of the presidency to concede anything as important as authority. I cannot give it to them. So I don’t know what would be the next step,” he added. 

The National Democratic Front, which represents the communists in the peace talks, has denied demanding a coalition government.

The NDF accused Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and other officials of peddling “orchestrated lies.”

Lorenzana has claimed that the communists have crafted a three-year plan to “advance the revolutionary government,” including an effort to oust Duterte if he does not agree to a coalition agreement. 

For his part, Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año urged the rebels to stop hostilities and abandon their call for a coalition government if they want peace talks with the government to prosper.

NDF panel chairman Fidel Agcaoili has said the lies of Duterte’s officials “have sounded the death knell on the peace talks” under the present administration. 

Duterte has canceled the formal talks scheduled for last month to allow him to “personally” review the agreements signed by his predecessors and the communists. 

Other conditions set by the President are the cessation of hostilities and collection of “revolutionary taxes.” – With Cecille Suerte Felipe