LUCENA CITY鈥擣or exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison, there are other issues surrounding the resignation of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza.
鈥淭he real issue may not be corruption but Duterte trying to put Opapp (Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process) under military control, occupation and corruption,鈥� Sison said in an online interview from Utrecht, the Netherlands, on Wednesday.
鈥楲eeway for corruption鈥�
Sison alleged that 鈥渢here is far more corruption in the Office of the President (OP)鈥� than in Opapp, which is also under the OP.
鈥淭here is a lot of leeway for corruption in Opapp because of the arbitrariness in selecting beneficiaries and fabricating beneficiaries,鈥� he said.
Sison added: 鈥淪ame arbitrariness as in Duterte鈥檚 using of intelligence and discretionary funds for bribing military and police officers to kill people, and for privately pocketing a lot more of such public funds which are not subject to detailed accounting by the Commission on Audit.鈥�
He said the 鈥渄ismissal or forced resignation鈥� of聽 Dureza and his subordinates 鈥渋s also a sign of Duterte鈥檚 intolerance toward peace negotiations and his mania for all-out war.鈥�
On Nov. 23, 2017, Mr. Duterte signed Proclamation No. 360 terminating peace talks between his administration and the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
Eleven days later, he issued Proclamation No. 374 declaring the CPP and its armed wing, the New People鈥檚 Army rebels, terrorist organizations.
On Monday, the President finally closed the door on any possibility of reopening the negotiations and ordered the military to launch all-out offensives against the Maoist聽 insurgents.