Communist rebels: No demand for a coalition government

A top negotiator for the communist rebels said Tuesday they had never demanded for a coalition government as claimed by some  officials of the Duterte administration.

“For the record, the NDFP has never put forward any demand for a coalition government,” said National Democratic Front of the Philippines chief peace negotiator Fidel Agcaoili in a statement.

Agcaoili added this “has been clarified several times” by Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison to the government negotiating panel and Norway, the third party facilitator of the talks, since October last year.

The NDFP negotiator made the remark in response to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior officer-in-charge Eduardo Año, and presidential spokesperson Harry Roque who all slammed Sison for claiming last week that the movement to remove President Rodrigo Duterte from power was growing and had become strong enough to eventually oust the chief executive. 

Lorenzana also said the ongoing review of all peace documents and agreements with the rebels showed that “it lays down the foundation of power sharing towards coalition government.”

“At any rate, it looks like the orchestrated lies and attacks of Lorenzana, Año and Roque against Prof. Sison have sounded the death knell on the peace talks under the Duterte regime. The peace spoilers seem to have won the day!” Agcaoili said.

Agcaoili recalled that lawyer Alexander Padilla, chief peace negotiator under former President Benigno Aquino III, “raised the spectre of a coalition government.”

“So, an allegedly anti-Aquino regime has adopted the false narrative of its arch enemy to waylay the peace talks,” Agcaoili said.

Padilla clarified to GMA News Online that he “raised the fear” that what the rebels “wanted was a coalition government, shortly before they intended to take over government eventually.”

“The government never agreed or consented to any such arrangement,” he said.

The formal resumption of peace talks was meant to proceed on June 28 in Norway, but fell through because Duterte said that he needed more time and more consultations before resuming the talks.

A stand-down agreement was signed on June 8 and was supposed to take effect on June 21, a week before the opening of formal talks. —KG, GMA News