President Duterte said he is glad that the government has suspended its peace negotiations with the communist rebels, noting that he doesn't understand why the latter continue to kill and sow hate among the people.
Duterte made the statement as he led the inauguration of the Bicol International Airport (BIA) in Daraga, Albay on Thursday, Oct. 7.
In his speech, the President said he is mad at the communist rebels for the atrocities that they have committed over the years.
"Galit ako sa kanila (I'm angry at them). To continue the killing and to continue the ferocity of the hate. Ewan ko kung ano ang gusto nitong mga ito (I don't know what they want)," he said.
"I'm not happy with them. I'm glad that we suspended the talks. Maybe the next president can do it but hindi ko kaya (I can't do it)," he added.
President Duterte first scrapped the formal peace talks with communist rebels in November 2017 for their supposed insincerity in the negotiations.
However, in December 2019, he ordered Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to return to the Netherlands and talk to Communist leader Jose Maria Sison as a last attempt at a peace deal with the Reds.
Despite this, the President said last month that the government's peace negotiations with the left were "dead on its tracks" as they asked too much from the government.
"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.
In December last year, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) designated the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as terrorists, saying it found probable cause that the CPP-NPA committed or conspired to commit the acts defined and penalized under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
In July this year, the ATC designated the National Democratic Front (NDF) as a terrorist organization for supposedly continuing to lure and recruit people to join the NPA.