President Rodrigo Duterte said during the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) 84th Anniversary Celebration in Bulacan today, December 8 that peace talks with communists may resume “some other time”.
“The best thing sa agriculture is you have the manufacturing, doon na mismo. Ngayon hindi nila mai-transport ’yang pineapple, doon na sa bukid ko na… but the conditions in a kuwan noon, ang unang requirement is you must have peace,” Duterte said.
“So itong mga left na kausap ni [Secretary of Labor and Employment Silvestre ‘Bebot’ Bello III], they have to agree to stop to impose revolutionary tax,” he said. “We can subsidize the talks and even the billeting and all. Ako na ang mag-gastos para… but you have to stop.”
DOLE Secretary Bello is also the chief peace negotiator of the government in talks with the CPP–NPA–NDF.
“Kasi ang problema, ang mga negosyante o ‘yang mga sundalo, they cannot just, you know, sabihin sa akin: Mayor, huwag mo kaming pigilan diyan kasi – inuubos na kami,” he added.
“So, I had to stop the talks with the NPAs but Bebot and company can always resuscitate it at some other time,” he said.