President Duterte said the government's peace negotiations with the communist rebels were "dead on its tracks" as they asked too much from the government.
Duterte made the statement during his interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ on SMNI on Tuesday and after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed unit New People's Army (NPA) took "full responsibility" for the killing of a union leader and his cousin in an explosion in Masbate.
During the interview, the President said he did not want to talk to the communist rebels anymore because of their arrogance.
"It’s dead on its track. It’s --- it is in still waters," he said.
"Ayaw ko nang makipag-usap, eh. Eh kasi arogante (I don't want to talk to them anymore, they're arrogant)," he added.
According to Duterte, the communist rebels asked for too much when they demanded a coalition government.
"The participation of the governance is just too much. Too much has been asked," he said.
"Parang (It would appear that) on the economic policies of the country they would be a part of it like a coalition government," he added.
On Monday, Duterte said the recent attacks of the NPA on police and soldiers who were on an aid mission in Quezon province was "sheer brutality."
In December last year, President Duterte said he was no longer interested in talking peace with the CPP.
Duterte ordered Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in December 2019 to return to the Netherlands and talk to CPP founder Joma Sison as a last attempt at a peace deal with the communists. He first scrapped the formal talks with communist rebels in November 2017 for their supposed insincerity in the negotiations.