MANILA - Communist leader Jose Maria Sison on Friday slammed President Rodrigo Duterte, describing him as the "worst kind of president" who is on his way to declaring a "fascist dictatorship."

Sison, founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, said Duterte controls all branches of government and has drafted a "killing budget" that allocates only P1,000 for the Commission of Human Rights and millions of pesos to law enforcement in the campaign against illegal drugs.

"I think I have a lot of criticisms to make of previous presidents, but this is the worst kind of president," Sison told ANC's Early Edition.

"I would say that Duterte is very well on the way to proclaiming a fascist dictatorship. He’s preparing for martial law and to impose a fascist dictatorship in the Philippines," he said.

Duterte's control of the Supreme Court, he said, is manifested by the "quick acquittal of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a way of paying for the support" the former president gave the incumbent.

The leftist leader also slammed the "glorification" of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, whose remains were laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani with the high court's nod.

"That Supreme Court has already given a blank check for proclaiming martial law nationwide," Sison said.

"But the attack of Duterte on [Chief Justice] Sereno is meant to complete, to tighten complete control over the Supreme Court," he added, referring to the impeachment complain filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

GOV'T PREPARING FOR MASSACRES?

Sison also denounced the Lower House's move to allocate only P1,000 to the CHR, which supports his statement that Duterte is heading towards dictatorship.

"The way the budget is made, it’s a killing budget, a budget for killing people, and a budget for expressing contempt for human rights."

"Reducing budget of the CHR to just P1,000 and then giving ‘tokhang’ this scheme of mass murder, 900 million plus other funds of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and a huge intelligence fund of Duterte—this is a budget for fascist dictatorship and for killing more people," he said.

Sison claimed P50,000 is the "going price" for each head of drug users and street-level peddlers, while P100,000 is for each suspected communist rebel.

"They’re preparing for massacres in the Philippines," he said.

"We are looking forward to despotic regime of widespread death and destruction. That is already well demonstrated in the destruction of Marawi," he added.

Duterte earlier said he has decided to abandon peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), saying the fighting between government and communist rebels could go on for “another 50 years.”

He also claimed Sison has colon cancer, which the latter denied.