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By Christina Mendez and Edith Regalado
MANILA, Philippines - Saying Filipinos killing fellow Filipinos is causing him much pain, President Duterte is reopening the doors to peace with communist rebels barely a month after he ordered peace negotiations suspended.
But before negotiations can resume, the rebel group should release its police and military hostages, stop collecting so-called revolutionary taxes, and refrain from asking favors, Duterte said on Friday.
“They have to release all policemen, army, everyone from the government. They should release them all. Second, they should stop asking for revolutionary tax,” he said at Camp Edilberto Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro.
“Third, they should stop asking for things. They’re burning a lot of things now and we’ll never meet each other halfway if that’s the case,” he said.
Duterte made his intentions known at the camp where he paid his respects to two soldiers killed in skirmishes with New People’s Army guerrillas late last month in Misamis, Oriental. The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front.
“I’m open to talk to the rebels, just not the killers. I’m ready to talk and I’m ready to stop this war. I would prefer for us to not have war, but we need to talk from the heart,” he said.
“I get hurt, I get really hurt if someone from the other side dies. Those are Filipinos,” Duterte said. He maintained that as president, he yearns for peace for the whole country.
Read the full story at PhilStar