President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in his speech during the 25th Annual National Convention of the Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines (VMLP) held at The Bellevue Hotel Resort in Panglao Island, Bohol on June 28, 2018, reiterated his stern warning to the Vice Mayors not to get involved in illegal activities. RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO President Rodrigo Duterte said he is unfazed by the threat of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison to oust him and even chided Sison to pair up with detained Sen. Leila de Lima in the effort.

Sison, in a statement last Thursday, said it would be better for the communist movement to join the oust-Duterte movement than negotiate peace with the government.

“What forces? Who is willing to join him? De Lima? My God!” Duterte said.

“What’s important is the Filipino people know what is going on. If you want to overthrow the government, fine,” he added.

Mr. Duterte said he finds no problem if the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) abandons the negotiating table.

“If they are not willing to talk to me, that’s fine. I don’t have [a] problem,” Duterte said at the sidelines of the 25th Annual National Convention of the Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines in Panglao, Bohol last Thursday night.

“Well, it does not really change the equation. We are still fighting with the Communist Party of the Philippines,” Duterte added.

“So we continue with the war. Anyway, we have been there for 50 years. Would it matter if we add 30 years more?” he added.

Despite Sison’s threat, Duterte said he is still committed to achieve peace with the enemies of the State, including Muslim rebels in Mindanao.

Sison should be taken off the peace process, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana added.

“I am sure that once you are out of the picture, true peace will have a chance to become a reality and you will be consigned to the dustbin of history,” Lorenzana said.

Sison flip-flopped on his declaration of withdrawal from the peace talks he made last Thursday when he contradicted himself yesterday by saying the negotiations were still on.

In a statement sent to media, Sison said the NDFP has not given up on the peace negotiations.

“Some news reports claim that I have canceled or terminated the GRP

(Government of the Republic of the Philippines)-NDFP peace negotiations and only the National Council of the NDFP can make the decision to suspend, cancel or terminate the peace negotiations with GRP, but it has not yet made such a decision,” Sison said.

Former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff and now Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año suggested that Sison seeks professional help for being “out of touch with reality.”

“He [has been] living 30 years in Netherlands, he doesn’t know the ordeal of members of the NPA (New People’s Army) in the mountains. [T]hat’s why many have surrendered,” Año said.

“It is clear Sison is fooling not only the government but also the entire Filipino people,” Año added.

“Mr. Sison, in response to your childish tantrums, we will vigorously pursue the ongoing localized peace talks,” Lorenzana said in a statement.

Branding Sison as a quintessential spoiled brat, Lorenzana said the government had long been giving way to Sison.

The defense chief added Sison was “desperately using reverse psychology and intimidation” against Duterte in dealing with the peace talks.

Lorenzana said the peace talks are the only issue keeping Sison in the limelight and, without it, the communist leader is irrelevant.

“He knows for a fact that if President Duterte terminates them, he can do nothing, thus the effort to save them,” Lorenzana said.

“Mr. Sison, majority of the NPA members no longer believe in you. They know that everytime you order them to fight government forces, you are sending them to death while you are comfortably enjoying your safety in The Netherlands and freeloading off the Dutch government. The NPA members are already tired of you,” Lorenzana said.

Elmer Navarro Manuel, Kathleen Mae Bulquerin and Jason Faustino