AS the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday welcomed the proposed formation of a panel that would negotiate peace anew with communist rebels, their leader Jose Maria “Joma” Sison rejected it.

“The AFP welcomes all efforts of the government towards attainment of the peace we have always been longing for. Fifty years of deception, lies, exploitation of the IP (Indigenous Peoples) and extortion is enough,” Col. Noel Detoyato, military public affairs chief, said in a statement after President Rodrigo Duterte floated the idea.