Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said that the new generation of Filipinos like him are at a loss to explain why the CPP-NDF-NPA continue to “wage war against their fellow Filipinos.”
He said it defies understanding.
Paolo’s comments came after his father, President Rodrigo Duterte terminated the unilateral ceasefire of the government side in the face of armed attacks by the NPAs.
The attacks prompted Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to declare all-out war against the rebels on Tuesday.
The younger Duterte said that the Reds have been fighting the government for decades yet it did not improve the “lives of the Filipino masses they claimed to be fighting for”.
“If the CPP/NDF/NPA is really for the masses, they should find in their hearts that killing Filipino soldiers is basically against what they are fighting for,” he said.
The Presidential son also said that the peace negotiations must be held here in the country since the problem is in the hinterlands.
“Peace negotiations must be felt by the stakeholders and only by doing it here could we truly have a peace talks that is people-centered and not just for the benefit of a few individuals,” Paolo said.
“I just hope that despite all these hullabaloo, both sides would give the welfare of the masses a priority over their big egos,” he added.
President Duterte has also terminated the Joint Agreement on safety and Immunity Guarantee (JASIG) following his announcement to arrest all political prisoners that were released to join the peace talks.
On Monday, Ariel Arbitrario, an NDF consultant was apprehended in a checkpoint area here after the elements of Task Force Davao received a report of the entry of a wanted personality in the city.
