Manila: Davao City’s Mayor, Rodrigo Duterte, promised to immediately declare a ceasefire with communist rebels once elected president as he witnessed the handing over of six security personnel who were captured in Mindanao to the government.
The leading presidential candidate made peace overtures amid an accusation that he failed to declare his net worth in 2014.
On Tuesday, the presidential front-runner oversaw the handing over from the New Peoples Army (NPA) of Private Edgardo Hilaga who was captured by the rebels last April 21 at a roadblock in Makilala, North Cotabato.
Local officials who were present during the release include Mayor Rudy Caoagdan of Makilala, Tulunan Councilor Joan Villamor, and former North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Pinol.
Hours before this, another NPA unit in Davao City’s Paquibato district released five captured policemen to Duterte.
The Davao City Mayor in a brief ceremony in the hinterlands of Paquibato District accepted the turnover of custody from the communist rebels of Chief Inspector Leonardo Tarungoy, the municipal police chief of Paquibato, as well as police officers PO3 Abdul Azis Ali, PO3 Rosenie Cabuenas, PO3 Rudolf Pacete and PO2 Neil Arellano.
“This is a useless war. We must end this,” reports quoted Duterte as saying in a speech he gave before the turnover.
Dutere, who had been an NPA captive himself early in his career as Davao City mayor (during the 1990s), had promised to talk peace with the communists and make it one of first items on the agenda of his government once he assumes the presidency.
As for the communist negotiating umbrella, the National Democratic Front (NDF) say they look forward to a Duterte presidency.
“While we do not engage in partisan politics, Mayor Duterte’s statements about talking with the movement offers us hope for a peaceful colony of the conflict,” Efren Aksasato of the NDF Far South Region said.
The communist insurgency in the Philippines has raged for 47 years and outlasted six presidents, and Duterte believes he has enough understanding of the conflict to finally put an end to it.
The insurgency has left most of the hinterland areas of the country economically stagnant and most residents poverty stricken.
Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, Duterte’s partymate in PDP Laban, said Duterte has the trust of the NPA as well as other groups that previously opposed the government such as Muslim groups under the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
“We will not only restore peace in Mindanao but [also] ensure that the Philippines would become one of the safest country,” he said.
The Philippines is slated to elect its next set of national, congressional and local leaders on May 9, and surveys said Duterte is the leading bet in a field of five candidates that includes Senator Grace Poe, former interior chief Mar Roxas, vice- president Jejomar Binay and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
The bright prospects for a Duterte presidency was clouded on Wednesday by accusations aired by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV that the Davao City mayor had failed to declare an alleged P211 million (Dh16 million) income in 2014 in his the Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN). All officials running for public office are required by law to submit SALN.
Trillanes is running for vice-president under Nacionalista Party.
In 2011, the then Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona was impeached for not declaring SALN properly.
