(Eagle News)–The Palace on Wednesday, Dec. 26, urged Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison to “wave the white flag,” noting that the 50-year Communist insurgency has failed.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement on the day the CPP celebrates its 50th founding anniversary.
“It’s for him to wave the white flag before his physique gives up on him,” Panelo said.
According to Panelo, the insurgency only resulted in “loss of lives of Filipinos especially the numerous young students who were killed in battles, skirmishes, battles and in sickness in the hills, who could have served their country well in pacific and productive means, as well as destruction of properties.”
He added rebel returnees are “coming in droves responding to the call of the government to return to the fold of the law, while Sison remains ensconced in his ivory tower of comfort and luxury while his comrades die for a lost cause.”
“There is honor in returning back to a democratic society and embracing the constitutional order,” Panelo added.
In previous speeches, President Rodrigo Duterte urged Sison, who is in exile in The Netherlands, to come back to the Philippines and talk peace instead.
But Sison has refused to do this, slamming Duterte for what he said was the chief executive’s absence of sincerity in pursuing peace talks.