Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attends the 115th Police Service Anniversary at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Quezon city, metro Manila, Philippines August 17, 2016.
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The Communist Party of the Philippines is set to declare a unilateral ceasefire as a gesture of appreciation for the resumption of talks and the release of political detainees which was supported by President Duterte.
Duterte lifted the 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.
A few hours after their release, the Communist Party of the Philippines declared a seven-day unilateral ceasefire that will take effect 12:01 a.m. on August 21 and will last until 11:59 p.m. on August 27. He sought asylum in Utrecht and has lived there for almost 30 years.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende will open the talks on Monday at an Oslo hotel, his ministry said in a statement.
The formal peace talks between the government and the leftist rebel group bogged down in 2011 during the Aquino administration.
Duterte had declared a unilateral government ceasefire during his first state of the union address July 25, only to call it off days later after an ambush by NPA members killed a government militiaman in southern Davao del Norte province.
“We call on the Duterte Administration and the National Democratic Front to fully adhere to the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and global humanitarian Law, which they signed in 1998”, said Canon Barry Naylor, a UK-based advocate for human rights in the Philippines, and a sponsor of JustPeacePH.
However, this would only be possible after the government freed “all political prisoners”, it said, referring to 550 guerrillas detained by the government.
But the movement retains support among the poor in rural areas, and its forces regularly kill police or troops while extorting money from local businesses.
The Philippine government released from jail on Friday two communist leaders, Benito Tiamzon and his wife, Wilma, to allow them to participate in the Oslo talks. Separatist forces are are estimated to be relatively weak in recent years.
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A self-described socialist, the 71-year-old has since appointed two left-leaning personalities to his cabinet and even initially vowed to form a coalition government with the rebels should the peace talks succeed.
