PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, April 2, insisted that communists must abide by his four conditions before the government decides to sign a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the rebels.
The President, who visited wounded soldiers at the Camp Evangelista Station Hospital in Barangay Patag, Cagayan de Oro City, said he desires peace but said a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the rebels cannot materialize if the conditions are not met.
"Bigyan mo lang ako ng ibang kalaban huwag lang ang aking kababayan (Give me another enemy other than my countrymen). But I cannot do anything because I am occupying a position with a burden of getting this country back to peace, that is my mission but there is a condition attached to it," Duterte said.
He said there should be a written document establishing the parameters of the bilateral ceasefire.
"There has to be a ceasefire and signed in an official document with the participation of the Norway government who’s providing the good office for the peace talks to be held there," Duterte said.
The president added there must be no extortion or revolutionary taxes and the rebels cannot claim state or territory in the country.
"Noon may ceasefire magpunta ang sundalo doon at magpapatrol sasabihin ng mga rebelde [When there was a ceasefire, soldiers go there and the rebels would say] they entered their territory, that's crazy sila yung rebel. Atin itong Pilipinas [They are the rebels. Philippines is ours]. You might be claiming it but you cannot hang onto it," Duterte said.
The last condition of the president is the release of all prisoners of war (POW).
Duterte arrived at around 5 p.m. Sunday, in Cagayan de Oro City and visited the 10 wounded in action soldiers admitted at the camp's hospital.
The soldiers were wounded during encounters with the New People's Army (NPA) and military operations in Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte and Bukidnon from March 8 to 30.
The soldiers were identified as Private First Class (PFC) Windyl Daayata, PFC Peter Ladera, PFC Alfie Jauculan, PFC Renan Bertilo, PFC Romeo Sajor, PFC Romer Quidit, Sergeant Ramie Valle, Private Jeffrey Mallorca, Corporal (CPL) Mhody Ramayrat and CPL Michael Maagad.
Duterte awarded the wounded soldiers with military merit medal, P110,000 financial assistance and new .45 caliber pistol.
Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eduardo Año, meanwhile, said they remain open with the peace negotiations, but a joint bilateral ceasefire must be crafted by the two sides.
Año said a joint ceasefire should be agreed between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines with complete conditions and parameters before peace talks should proceed.
Since the ceasefire was lifted earlier this year, the Army has “neutralized” about 140 rebels, 28 of them were killed, 21 were captured, while the rest have surrendered, he said.
"Sa atin hindi maiiwasan na may casualties tayo sa encounter, so our casualties I think is about 22, all over the country (For us, we can't avoid casualties, we already have 22 soldiers who died all over the country). But this is our part of our mandate to protect the people and the state," he said.
The NPA forces in Luzon and Visayas areas have weakened, he said, adding that Northern Mindanao, Caraga, and Davao Region or the whole Eastern Mindanao are the remaining regions having a strong force of the rebels.
In Eastern Mindanao, about 75 percent of the NPA members belong to the lumads or the Indigenous Peoples, Año said.
"In Luzon and Visayas, they are concentrated in small pockets or isolated areas," he said.
"We also saw that they concentrate their recruitment on the IPs because these groups can be easily deceived due to lack of education," he added.
Año also pointed out that the NPA cannot expect a temporary ceasefire for the safe release of captive Police Officer 2 Anthony Natividad and all other POW.
He said it is not necessary to issue a temporary ceasefire when the rebels can just simply turnover the captives to the local government units, the religious sector, or the media, citing that the “rebels have done this before.”
"No they should not expect, because we don't want to use the situation again to interfere in the lives of other people, and do their thing violating the laws," he said.
