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| Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte |
By Artemio Dumlao
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has turned his back on good beginnings with progressive groups and has bowed down to the “dictates of pro-US lackeys,” a human rights group said.
Duterte was described by Karapatan, which is affiliated with Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, as “fast becoming a disappointment.”
Duterte is to blame for a breakdown in peace negotiations with communist rebels “as he forces a bilateral ceasefire deal while undermining discussions on socioeconomic and political reforms, and is blatantly violating agreements on human rights and international humanitarian law” said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general.
“Duterte has reneged on his promise to release all political prisoners through a general amnesty” and, she said “has willingly surrendered people’s rights [in favor of] military rule.”
Duterte has said in the past that he has already conceded too much to the communists—nominees of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, which negotiates with the government in peace talks, sit in the Cabinet. He said he will release all political prisoners once a ceasefire agreement is signed.
Read the full story at PhilStar