MANILA: The Philippines set fresh conditions Thursday for resuming peace talks with communist rebels, drawing a quick rejection from leaders of the nearly 50-year-old insurgency.
The rebels would have to drop collection of a so-called “revolutionary tax” from businesses and demands to be part of a governing coalition.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s peace adviser Jesus Dureza also said talks would need to move to the Philippines from Europe and rebels would have to live in special camps.
“The doors for peace negotiations with the communist rebels are still open,” Dureza said in a statement.
Duterte called off negotiations in November and formally designated the Communist Party of the Philippines and its 3,800-member armed wing the New People’s Army as “terrorist organizations.”
The 49-year-old conflict in the largely Catholic nation is one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies and has claimed 30,000 lives by the government’s count.
“Duterte has killed the peace talks,” rebel leader Jose Maria Sison told journalists via video link from his base in the Netherlands, calling government officials, “double-faced hypocrites” for claiming the negotiations could continue.
Sison, a former college professor of Duterte, said the communists had originally hoped the peace talks would progress under the president who took office in mid-2016, calling himself a socialist.
The rebel leader rejected the Duterte government’s new pre-conditions, saying that the communists would be taking a major risk if they turned up to talks in the Philippines.
Previously talks were to be held in Norway, but Duterte has put them off.
Sison also said the military was overstretched, fighting Muslim extremists in the south and communist rebels in rural areas all over the country, adding that his guerrillas faced “big opportunities to hit” under Duterte.
“There will be more guerrilla offensives... while Duterte is in power,” he said.
Sison also sneered at the military’s estimate that the communists numbered less than 4,000, saying they had forces all over the country although he would not give specifics.
Calling the president a “monster,” Sison said that regarding peace talks, the communists “can wait for the next government, the next administration.”
Asked how long the conflict would last, he said “the revolutionary forces will fight for as long as necessary to overthrow this rotten system.”
Communist rebels reject Philippine government’s new demands
Communist rebels reject Philippine government’s new demands
- The Philippines set fresh conditions Thursday for resuming peace talks with communist rebels
- President Rodrigo Duterte’s peace adviser Jesus Dureza also said talks would need to move to the Philippines from Europe
Italian PM pledges to deepen cooperation with African states
- The plan, launched in 2024, aims to promote investment-led cooperation rather than traditional aid
ADDIS ABABA: Italy pledged to deepen cooperation with African countries at its second Italy-Africa summit, the first held on African soil, to review projects launched in critical sectors such as energy and infrastructure during Italy’s first phase of the Mattei Plan for Africa.
The plan, launched in 2024, aims to promote investment-led cooperation rather than traditional aid.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni addressed dozens of African heads of state and governments in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, and reiterated that a successful partnership would depend on Italy’s “ability to draw from African wisdom” and ensure lessons are learned.
“We want to build things together,” she told African heads of state. “We want to be more consistent with the needs of the countries involved.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Italy had provided Africa with a gateway to Europe through these partnerships.
“This is a moment to move from dialogue to action,” he said.
“By combining Africa’s energetic and creative population with Europe’s experience, technology, and capital, we can build solutions that deliver prosperity to our continents and beyond.”
After the Italy-Africa summit concluded, African leaders remained in Addis Ababa for the annual African Union Summit.
Kenyan writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola said tangible results from such summits depend on preparations made by countries.
African governments often focus on “optics instead of actually making summits a meaningful engagement,” she said.
Instead of waiting for a list of demands, countries should “present the conclusions of an extended period of mapping the national needs” and engage in dialogue to determine how those needs can be met.
Since it was launched two years ago, the Mattei Plan has directly involved 14 African nations and has launched or advanced around 100 projects in crucial sectors, including energy and climate transition, agriculture and food security, physical and digital infrastructure, healthcare, water, culture and education, training, and the development of artificial intelligence, according to the Italian government.
