(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday was unfazed over Communist Party of the Philippines chair Jose Maria Sison’s threat rebels could kill one soldier a day if peace negotiations did not resume.
In an event in Malacanang that saw around 200 officially leaving their rebel lives behind, Duterte even threatened to have five New People’s Army rebels killed for every soldier killed.
“He wants to succeed me. No question about that. He’s a Filipino. Actually, I don’t know if he is one,” the President said in Cebuano of Sison.
“He looks like a Taiwanese national. He wants to run for president. No question,” the President said.
In a statement over the weekend, Sison boasted of the Communist rebels’ “capacity,” as he called the arrest of National Democratic Front consultant Rafael Baylosis as “extremely provocative.”
“The NPA in 17 regions has actually the capacity of knocking out at least one AFP soldier every day per region. That eliminates at least 510 enemy troops or some five companies every month nationwide,” he said.
President Duterte officially terminated peace talks last year after he accused the rebels of killing soldiers even when a ceasefire was in place.