Duterte renews call for NPAs to surrender

MANILA, Philippines — With a little over three months remaining in his term, President Duterte has renewed his call for members of the New People’s Army (NPA) to surrender and end the decades-old communist rebellion in the country.

“Tell them I don’t want war. Tell them to come down here. Let them know that this is my policy, I’m now laying down the policy. I will guarantee it, but I don’t know about the next president,” Duterte said in a speech in Palo, Leyte last Thursday.

“I’ve been calling for this for at least three years. If they surrender, I’ll accept them. But if they take their time and wait to decide, then the problem is I’m about to step down from the presidency. But if I stay a bit longer, then they will get to experience it, I’ll distribute lands. We have to end this stupid war,” he added.

Duterte’s term will end on June 30.

In an interview with pastor Apollo Quiboloy aired on March 12, Duterte warned that communist insurgents are conniving with a certain political organization to destabilize the May 9 elections.

“But what I really am afraid of is the report of the intelligence community…It seems there’s a grouping of the communists, the yellows, and another… Well, of course the communist is already a terrorist organization. So the yellows, that’s a... I forgot the other one,” Duterte said.

Yellow is the color associated with the Liberal Party, where presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo remains a member.

“(The government is) watching for that kind of situation. They might be... That’s what I said could disrupt because they have these working relations now with the yellows and the election is the objective really,” he added.

Presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla had earlier claimed that Robredo’s campaign has been infiltrated by communists.

Robredo has denounced attempts to link her to the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA, describing it as fake news and a ploy to stop the “momentum” of the “people’s campaign.”

“To be clear: This is a lie,” the Vice President said.