MANILA: Communist guerrillas said a Philippine government court petition to have them designated as terrorists is a desperate attempt to alienate them from the people, but insisted they are still open to talks to peacefully settle one of Asia’s longest-raging insurgencies.
Regional rebel commander Jaime Padilla said that President Rodrigo Duterte would fail like past leaders to defeat the New People’s Army rebels so he’s resorting to “fake news” to undermine the Maoist guerrillas, who have managed to wage an insurgency for nearly half a century with what he said was the people’s support.