Sison coming home

Exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP) founder Jose Maria Sison has agreed to return to the Philippines as early as mid-August this year, peace panel consultant Rey Casambre said yesterday.

The report on Sison’s possible return came just days after President Rodrigo Duterte postponed the peace talks between the government and communist rebels originally scheduled for June 28-30.

The postponement is to give the government more time to study the components of an interim peace agreement, including a “stand-down” order on combatants from both sides, preparatory to actual peace talks.

But while Sison may be willing to visit Manila, Casambre said the position of the CCP-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP) to hold peace talks outside the Philippines may be “non-negotiable.”