By Raïssa Robles – And I thought the communist rebels said they would, after President Rodrigo Duterte called on them to help him in his drug war by targeting drug traffickers.

Still, this could all be part of the noise in the negotiations between the government and the rebels in the run-up to forge a peace agreement.

The negotiations are unique in Philippine history. This is the first time I’ve seen the President directly negotiating with the top communist leader himself, and both engaging in a word war.