Duterte trivializing peace talks — NDF

MANILA, Philippines — The National Democratic Front (NDF) slammed President Duterte for insisting that communist leaders are asking for power sharing with the government.

In a statement posted on the NDF website, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said there was no proposed power sharing provision in all the agreements the NDF signed with the government.

The CPP said Duterte is trivializing the negotiations by claiming that the NDF is after power sharing.

“Duterte is weaving a big lie in claiming that past agreements... end up with power sharing and a coalition government. We challenge Duterte to stand before the public and point out specifically in which agreement did he make that discovery, instead of blabbering about nonsense such as power sharing,” the CPP said.

Duterte had earlier said he knows how the CPP works and what is in the mind of its founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison.

Duterte maintained that he could not give up the presidency or agree to term-sharing with Sison or any other communist leader.

“He aims at Prof. Jose Ma. Sison who he wants to derogate to his level as a power-hungry politician. I cannot give it to you, he insists. Indeed, Duterte does not want to share power... the dictator wannabe does not want to share power with anyone. He wants it all for himself,” the CPP said.

The CPP said Duterte is “deliberately engendering the specter of power sharing” to scare politicians for them to support his decision to end negotiations with communist rebels. 

The group also slammed Duterte for discrediting former government negotiators who signed previous agreements.

“Duterte knows that many among his fellow reactionaries do not sit well with his decision to end the talks. The broad democratic sectors denounce his one-track militarist approach,” the CPP said.

“To set the record straight, the revolutionary forces do not seek power sharing... If one closely reads the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, the only agreement so far which pertains to the substantive agenda of the talks, there is no single mention of sharing power. On the contrary, it speaks of mutuality and reciprocity as well as separate duties and responsibilities,” it said.