Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had previously ended a unilateral truce with the communist New People’s Army late last month as rebels did not respond to a deadline to reciprocate the government’s truce.
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The government and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) have declared a ceasefire just days before the start of peace talks in Oslo, Norway.
Dureza said the government expects to reach an “interim negotiated ceasefire” as soon as possible to put in place mechanisms to avoid renewed conflict, something the unilateral truce declarations do not provide.
“This ceasefire declaration is encouraged by the GRP’s facilitation of the release of almost all NDFP consultants who are set to participate in peace negotiations in the course of the next several months”, the CPP said in a statement.
His NDF counterpart Luis Jalandoni said that while previous negotiations had the panels embarking on the tedious process of discussing each issue one at a time, Duterte’s political will in supporting the peace talks has convinced them that they could “speed up the process”.
The CPP and its armed component the New People’s Army with about 4,000 members have been waging a Maoist-style insurgency against the government for more than 45 years, considered the longest in Asia and the Pacific.
Mr. Duterte withdrew the on July 30, after the NPA killed a militiaman in an ambush and the CPP failed to declare its own truce.
Duterte, likewise, threatened to call off the peace talks if the Maoists continued to use landmines in their attacks on government forces, pointing out it violated global agreements especially the Geneva Convention and the Ottawa Treaty.
Meanwhile, reports are that at least 22 “consultants” of the National Democratic Front (NDF) have been released on bail by the various regional trial courts where they were facing non-bailable criminal charges such as murder and kidnapping so they join their comrades in Norway.
As they sat down to talk in the Norwegian capital, both sides agreed that an important factor has changed: a Philippines president strongly supporting the peace process with cease-fires, the release of political prisoners, and the appointment of two allies of the guerrillas to Cabinet posts in concessions that fostered the resumption of talks.
Dureza noted that it has already taken more than 30 years of talks, 15 breakdowns of talks – the last being five years ago, and six presidencies to get so far in the two parties’ quest for lasting peace in the Philippines.
The resumption of the GPH-NDF peace negotiations in Oslo has been described as historic as it also served as a venue for the reunion of Filipino Marxist leaders who assumed top positions in the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
At this point, the one-week ceasefire of the communists could be classified as “symbolic”, he said.
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He said the President worked for the unprecedented release from detention of 20 prisoners who are needed in the talks.
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