Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday lashed out at exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison for branding the idea of localised peace talks a “waste” of government funds and said he should be ignored like a “barking dog.”
“I consider Sison’s rejection and rant as just a noisy distraction, like the barking of a dog that is best ignored,” Lorenzana said in a statement, noting that Sison’s remarks was no surprise to him.
“Did he think that the government would stop just because the ‘mighty’ Sison rejects it? Fat chance, Sison,” the Defence chief said.
He was responding to the statement of Sison last week lambasting the localised peace talks, which the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Lorenzana himself had proposed.
This was also after Malacanang announced that President Rodrigo Duterte would issue an executive order authorising localised peace talks.
Lorenzana also said: “The world has moved on while you continue to wallow in your delusions of grandeur.”
“The reality on the ground is that your fighters, whom you have abandoned in order to seek the comforts of the Netherlands are wisening up and returning to the folds of the law in great numbers,” he added.
Lorenzana also said the money to be spent on the localised peace talks would be dedicated to the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels who would surrender to authorities and to their families for whom medical care, school expenses and food would be provided.
“Your problem Sison is that you consider money that is not spent to prop up your gargantuan ego is money wasted,” he stressed.
For the Defence chief, another waste of money are those being extorted by the NPA rebels being guised as “revolutionary taxation scheme that are never accounted for” and Sison’s stay in the Netherlands for more than 30 years.
“While we are at it, let us also include the money spent to maintain your luxurious lifestyle in the Netherlands. Now, that is a real waste of money,” Lorenzana said.
Even with the criticism brought by Sison towards the local talks, Lorenzana said that such reaction would be “immaterial” since the military has brought the “discourse” to the local insurgents.
“Do you really think that you still hold away over events here in the Philippines? Dream on, Sison. Hold on to your misguided dreams because they are all that’s left for you,” he said.
Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza announced the suspension of the formal peace talks supposed to be held in Norway, citing that Duterte will first have to review the agreements signed during the backchannel talks in June.