DAVAO CITY鈥擯resident Rodrigo Duterte said the resumption of talks between the government and the communist rebels, which he had ordered, would be the final straw in his efforts to make peace with the insurgents.
In his speech delivered during the 102nd annual communication of the Grand Mason here, which was not open to the media,聽on Thursday聽the President said the talks should resume聽in 60 days from the day he ordered Peace Secretary Jesus Dureza to find ways to reopen it.
It was on April 4 when he asked Dureza to look for opportunity to reopen the talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF).
READ: Gov鈥檛, NDFP preparing to resume peace talks 鈥� Bello
鈥淚 will give you and me 60 days, a very small window. And this would be the last,鈥� Duterte said in his speech, the transcript of which was released by Malaca帽ang聽on Friday.
Duterte canceled the talks in November over rising violence blamed on the New People鈥檚 Army (NPA), especially in the countryside.
鈥淪o we are talking now. (Labor Secretary Silvestre) Bello and Dureza are there. Two months, 60 days. If we fail, we fail forever,鈥� he added.
Duterte revealed that the military did not like the idea the talks would be resumed.
鈥淚n military, they don鈥檛 like it,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut I told them, look, and the police, not but not some. But not鈥擝ut not all also. I said 鈥榣ook. I am not a soldier. I am not a policeman. I am a government worker whose task is to find peace for my country. So allow me to do it because that is my job. Or would you rather that we continue the carnage of killing each other and find no peace for all time?鈥欌�� Duterte recounted what he told the military.
Duterte said he was ready to spend for peace and also asked Communist Party of the Philippines founding chair Jose Ma. Sison to come home.
鈥淲ell, come home. Do not ask me to go to the Netherlands because we are fighting for power in the Philippines. You come here. I will spend for your trip, billeting, and board, and all. So long as your soldiers are in a camp. Bring your firearms there. Do not go out with arms. Stop extortion and declare a ceasefire,鈥� he said.
Duterte said he was ready to 鈥渢inker about the social ills, how to improve lives of people, how to remove poverty.鈥�
鈥淏ut sovereign power cannot be a bargaining chip,鈥� he said, adding that 鈥淚 cannot, for the life of me, give it to you even if I wanted to.鈥�
鈥淲hy? Because a coalition government would entail the sharing of powers. And the Constitution says that sovereignty resides in the Filipino people,鈥� he said.
Duterte said he would be 鈥渧iolating the Constitution and the army and the police鈥� if he agreed to a coalition government with the rebels. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 culpable enough, would be a good reason for me to go out of office forcibly. That is not really an option. Remove that. No coalition government ever. We can talk of how to formulate economics and everything,鈥� he added.
Duterte also said he was just sharing 鈥淪ison鈥檚 temperament.鈥�
鈥淪o if he throws something that is not to my liking, I also would b*lls*it him because I have to stand for the sovereignty of the country,鈥� he added.
鈥淚 will deliver the rice and the viands there in your camp. Then we talk. But no coalition government,鈥� Duterte said. /jpv
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