Duterte asks Sison to come home on certain conditions

President Rodrigo Duterte urged communist rebel leader Jose Maria Sison to come home and promised he won't be arrested on certain conditions.

"Kahapon tumawag si (Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Silvestre) Bello sabi niya, Sir, (Jose Maria) Sison is very sick that's why I offered him to come home and ako ang magbayad sa ospital niya," Duterte said in a speech Thursday.

[Translation: Yesterday, Bello called and he said, "Sir, Sison is very sick," that's why I offered him to come home and I will pay for his hospital expenses.]

Sison, who is seeking asylum in The Netherlands, was Duterte's professor at the Lyceum University where he took his Political Science degree.

The day before, he also urged Sison to come back to the Philippines.

"Tell Sison because he is sick, he's very sick. He can come home. I'll give him … freedom of movement. I will not arrest him," Duterte said Wednesday.

However, he laid down conditions the rebels should follow in exchange of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder's safe return.

Duterte reiterated he wants the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the CPP, to stop collecting revolutionary taxes, release all prisoners, and stop claiming territories.

"We have been fighting for 55 years already from its inception, 50 years ang (of) actual fighting," he said. "You want another 50 years? I grieve when I see a Filipino die."

"Ke ma-sundalo o ke ma-NPA, Pilipino eh," he added. "Pero kung ayaw ninyong maghinto, then let us fight for another 50 years. Wala naman akong problema sabi ko, marami akong sundalo."

[Translation: Whether they're soldiers or NPA members, they're Filipinos. But if you don't want to stop, then let us fight for another 50 years. I have no problem with that as I have many soldiers.]

The rebellion has been raging 49 years since 1968. It is one of the longest-running communist insurgencies in the world.

Sison is the Chief Political Consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which just concluded its fourth round of peace talks with the government in The Netherlands, Thursday night (Philippine time).

[Source]