After all, communist parties function in other democratic societies as legitimate political organizations taking part in democratic elections and succeeding sometimes to form governments. Negotiations between the government and the communists have gone on intermittently for well over 20 years. But none has achieved as much as this round of talks has achieved within a short period time, which underlines, in effect, the good intentions on all sides. In fact, assessing China’s long-term interest, after the demise of Mao, the Chinese Communist Party has cut off the support it has been giving to foreign comrades. Duterte has taken the bold initiative to include some former communists or fellow travelers to make his administration look like a coalition government.

Source: Manila Times August 30, 2016 16:18 UTC