By calling Duterte impulsive for offering a unilateral ceasefire to the rebels, Leila De Lima suggested that Duterte is not deliberate in making his moves thus insinuating that Duterte stupid.
De Lima said that “The unilateral ceasefire was impulsive as its lifting, because of non-reciprocation. is now impulsive,”. De Lima also suggested that negotiations should have been made first so that both parties can agree to the terms of the ceasefire.
Leila's mind follows that traditional and predictable route and does not have a mind of a chess player. Perhaps she is unaware that the bilateral negotiation takes a long time because both parties will try to outmaneuver the opponent to get more concessions.
What I believe Duterte did was to "corner the communist" by putting them on the spot and forced them to make peace.
Personally, I think Duterte's unilateral ceasefire offer was a masterstroke. He surprised the communist with the offer of peace and the leftist were caught flat-footed. Not knowing how to react to the peace offer, the communist were confused how to react.
Then the NPA made a grave error, they ambushed the CAGFUs leaving one dead and a number injured.
Duterte checkmates the NPA.
As a result of the ambush, Duterte offered a deadline for his peace offer on July 30, 2015 at 5:00pm. He waited for word from the communist till 7:00pm. Not getting a response, Duterte then ended the truce. Shock and baffled, the leftist gave a whimpering excuse saying they were going to issue a ceasefire at 8:00pm.
If they really intended to make a decision at 8:00pm, did they even bother to ask for an extension for the deadline? Nothing in the news suggested that the communist did.
I think the communist miscalculated, they probably thought the president would blink and back-out of his 5:00pm deadline. But they forgot one thing, by extending the deadline the president would send a message of weakness. In the eyes some sectors in the military, Duterte is too leftist for their taste and accommodating an extension would not sit well with them.
In the end, Duterte won. He is seen as the peacemaker and the leftist the villain. But at the end of the day De Lima may still be wondering what the hell happened.
Please read the Inquirer.net story shown beloew which is the basis of my comments Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment.
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De Lima scores ‘impulsiveness’ of declaring, lifting ceasefire
By: Tarra Quismundo - Philippine Daily Inquirer
01:54 PM July 31st, 2016
MANILA, Philippines — The unilateral ceasefire was issued as impulsively as it was taken back.
Sen. Leila de Lima said this Sunday as she explained that the government should have been more deliberate instead of rash in its decision to declare and then lift a unilateral ceasefire with the communist movement.
“The unilateral ceasefire was impulsive as its lifting, because of non-reciprocation. is now impulsive,” De Lima said when sought for comment.
The government turnaround came after an initially congenial relationship between the administration of President Duterte and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). The Chief Executive lifted his decision to declare a unilateral cessation of hostilities after the other side failed to immediately respond.
“The expectation that the NDFP will reciprocate the government’s unilateral ceasefire should have been calibrated from the start. That is why it is unilateral. It cannot be a demand to reciprocate, but simply a show of good faith. If it is a demand, it loses its unilateral nature,” said De Lima when sought for comment.
She cited the importance of reaching an agreement to declare a bilateral ceasefire, saying a unilateral declaration was always a gamble.
“The President gambled, the NDFP did not call his shot, and now we are in an unfortunate situation of one-upmanship and bruised egos. That is why peace talks are approached through deliberation and diplomacy and not impulsiveness,” De Lima said.
She called the development “very unfortunate for the peace talks,” lamenting the “display of intolerance on both sides, from the NDFP and the President.” JE/rga
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