Duterte daughter slams Reds anew as ‘terrorists’

MANILA: The outspoken mayordaughter of President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte stepped up her attack on communist insurgents by calling them “terrorists” who do not deserve protection of their human rights In a statement, Mayor Sara Dutertecarpio of their hometown Davao City in Mindanao also called for the expulsion of a Left-leanng member of the House of Representatives, who accused her of “toeing” the military line to oppose the resumption of peace talks with the communist insurgents.

Mayor Sara reiterated her call for her father to reconsider his decision to resume peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed component the New People’s Army (CPPNPA) within a “timeline” of 60 days.

“I believe the insurgency problem can only be ended if the NDF and the CPPNPA are sincere, honest and committed to working toward the direction of peace and reciprocate the gesture offered by the government,” Mayor Sara pointed out.

The NDF stands for the National Democratic Front, the political arm of the CPP-NPA that has been representing them in the peace talks abroad, particularly Norway as the third party facilitator.

At the same time, Mayor Sara called on colleagues of Congressman Ariel Casilao of the Left-leaning and militant party list “Anakpawis” (Sons of the Soil) to expel him for “serving as the representative of the terrorists.”

Mayor Sara was reacting to Casilao’s statement accusing her of toeing the military’s opposition to the resumption of peace talks and urged her instead to look into alleged human rights violations by government forces against peasants and “lumads” (indigenous peoples) in Mindanao.

Mayor Sara denounced Casilao for acting as the “mouthpiece and attack dog of the groups responsible for a long list of terroristic activities against the people and the state over the past 40 years.”

She was apparently referring to the CPP-NPA that have been waging a Maoist-style insurgency against the government for close to 50 years, considered the longest in Asia and the Paciic.

Casilao, Mayor Sara added, is an”aberration” in government, who, instead of working to help the workers and farmers he is supposed to represent in Congress is now serving as the representative of the terrorists.