Duterte to Free Political Prisoners
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte announced earlier that he is going to free all political prisoners without preconditions.
“I might decide to just free them before the (end of the) talks,” Duterte told Inquirer and other members of the press in a conference.
The incoming president did not mention name or group but he is clearly referring to all political prisoners which include the leaders and consultants of communist group, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
“It is a show of confidence-building. Maski hindi maganda dahil wala namang negotiation na maganda talaga. Whether civil or uncivil, in good manners or hindi, basta nagsimula na, sige i-release ko na,” he said in a press conference on Monday, May 23, 2016.
“This is my condition—we must be talking to each other,” he added.
Duterte, who won a landslide victory in the May 9 elections stressed that there would be no “discrimination” in the releasing of political prisoners or prisoner of war including those who have committed serious cases such as Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, top communist leaders.
“That will be part either of a pardon or amnesty. Usually, if it’s a large number of people, it is an amnesty,” he said noting all charges would be cleared.
“I am offering, as I’ve said, my hand of peace in good faith. So all of us must deal in good faith,” he said.
Just recently, he announced that he is opening his government to communists.
On Monday, May 16, 2016, Duterte told the press that he is offering Cabinet posts of Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to communist leaders.
Photo Credit: Philstar.com
