Duterte rejects Misuari’s proposal to include Abu Sayyaf in talks, amnesty

President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected the proposal of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari to include the Abu Sayyaf Group in the peace talks with the MNLF.

The President so revealed in a speech before the Philippine Marines in Taguig City on Tuesday.

Duterte said he had been waiting for talks with Misuari but the MNLF leader supposedly suggested that the bandit group be included.

"Si Nur Misuari, I have been waiting for him... Ang bagong proposal is pati Abu Sayyaf isali na niya. At pagdating ng panahon kung magka-ok tayo, isali niya sa general amnesty," Duterte said.

"Pagka ganoon, huwag na lang tayong mag-usap. I will not. For the life of me, I will not," he added.

"Why should I talk to animals? What's the point?" Duterte said, in apparent reference to the bandit group who recently beheaded an 18-year-old hostage.

Duterte then said that if Misuari would not drop the proposal, the peace talks with the MNLF would not push through.

"You wait for another President. Ayoko ng ganoon... As a matter of principle, I will not accept that... Either Nur abandons the Abu Sayyaf or he will take care of the Abu Sayyaf," Duterte said. —NB, GMA News