Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenza on Sunday said he is not surprised about the rejection of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Joma Sison on localized peace talks.

“Unfortunately for him, what he thinks and says are immaterial because we have now brought the discourse to the local insurgents sans Mr. Sison. I consider Sison’s rejection and rant as just a noisy distraction, like the barking of a dog that is best ignored,” Lorenzana said in a statement.

“Did he think that the government would stop just because the 'mighty' Sison rejects it? Fat chance Mr Sison. Do you really think that you still hold sway over events here in the Philippines? Dream on Mr. Sison. Hold on to your misguided dreams because they are all that’s left for you,” he added.

"The world has moved on while you continue to wallow in delusions of grandeur," said Lorenzana

“The reality on the ground is that your fighters, whom you have abandoned in order to seek the comforts of the Netherlands are wizening up and returning to the folds of the law in great numbers,” he said.

He questioned the CPP-NPA’s statement that localized talks are only a waste of money.

“If the money given to those returning to society so that they will have stable and sustainable livelihoods, so that their families will have medical care, so that their children can go to school, so that they will have the resources to start new lives and put food on their tables is a waste of money, so be it. Let us waste more money on these kinds of endeavors then,” he said.

He said Sison’s problem is considering money that is not spent to prop up his ego as money wasted.

“I’ll tell you Mr. Sison what money is really being wasted: the monies that you and your cohorts have extorted under the guise of your so-called "revolutionary taxation scheme" that are never accounted for. While we are at it, let us also include the money spent to maintain your luxurious lifestyle in the Netherlands. Now, that is a real waste of money,” he said.

The CPP called the localized talks “pretend talks” where President Rodrigo Duterte will “pretend to want peace while actually waging total war against the people.”

“So-called localized peace talks are a sham, a waste of people’s money, and are doomed to fail. It is a worn-out psywar tactic to project victory to conceal the continuing failure of the AFP to suppress the people’s resistance and stem the steady growth of the NPA,” said the CPP. “The civil war will continue to rage despite local peace talks.” Ella Dionisio/ DMS