International News

DAVAO, Philippines, (APP/AFP): The leader of the
Philippines’ communist insurgency will be welcome to return home after nearly three decades in exile and participate in peace talks, president-elect Rodrigo Duterte has said.
Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison wrote in
a Facebook post last week he hoped to come home following the landslide May 9 election win of Duterte, with whom he has maintained ties while living in the Netherlands.
In his first press conference since it became clear he had won the
election, Duterte said late Sunday that Sison’s return to the Philippines would be important in helping to end the rebellion.
The insurgency was one of Asia’s longest and has claimed an estimated
30,000 lives since the 1960s.
“Yes, he is welcome. I am happy with the statement that he is coming
home. I would very much want to talk to him about resolving the insurgency problem,” Duterte told reporters in the southern city of Davao where he has ruled as mayor for most of the past two decades.
Duterte also said communist figures would be considered for cabinet
posts.