(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has reiterated his proposal for Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison to come home from The Netherlands where he is in exile to talk.
In a televised press conference in Malacanang on the 51st anniversary of the CPP, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President in particular dared Sison to have a “one-on-one talk” with the chief executive, with “no government panel involved, no panel on the Communist side.”
“He is asking him to come to the Philippines, there will be no enforcement of any warrant, just come to the Philippines and talk with him,” Panelo said.
He said the President wants an explanation on what he said were the ceasefire violations committed by the New People’s Army, and has ordered a probe into what the government said were attacks.
The Communists’ political wing, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, has denied the NPA had committed any violations, saying the “encounters” with the military and police in Bicol and Iloilo were “defensive actions by the NPA units involved in the face of armed attacks and sustained military operations” by the government.
Both the government and Communists declared a ceasefire for the holidays until Jan. 7.
