By Genalyn D. Kabiling
In case the proposed peace talks with the communist rebels fail, President Duterte said he would ask Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison never to return to the country or else face death.
The President said he has invited Sison to return home and gave him a 60-day window for the “make or break” peace negotiations. Duterte, however, threatened to kill Sison if the peace talks collapse anew.
“‘Pag walang nangyari sa two months, I will allow him to go out. I will not arrest him because word of honor ‘yan. But sabihin ko talaga sa kanya, ‘p***** i** mo ‘wag ka nang bumalik dito. Papatayin talaga kita,’” he said during the inauguration of a bridge project in Davao City last Thursday.
“Pag walang mangyari, sabihin ko talaga sa kanya, ‘Do not ever, ever return again to this country. I will kill you. You’ve killed so much of my soldiers and policemen,’” he added.
Duterte noted that Sison, who lives in exile in the Netherlands, has accepted his invitation to return home for the peace talks. “I have invited Sison to come home. He has agreed. I gave him a window of two months, very small. Make or break tayo dito,” he said.
The President had set a 60-day timeframe for peace talks he wants to revive with the communist rebels.
Duterte, however, said rebels must agree to a ceasefire, stop extortion, and abandon their proposed coalition government before resuming negotiations.
He has also promised to provide safe passage to Sison if he returns home to hammer out a peace deal. He also offered to pay for the rebel leader’s expenses while staying in the country.
