Duterte had declared a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP and its armed and political wings in his first State of the Nation address last week, only for the military to claim that New Peoples Army (the NPA, the CPP’s armed wing) rebels had ambushed a Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit two days later, killing a government militiaman and injuring four others. He initially threatened to withdraw his cease-fire order by Friday but extended his deadline after the rebels said they were investigating the guerrilla attack.
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On Sun, Jul 31, the Communist Party of the Philippines recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte that they “declare separate unilateral ceasefires on Aug 20”.
Duterte, however, has agreed to the release of detained rebels, who would be involved in peace talks, and designated two allies of the guerrillas to Cabinet posts in concessions aimed at fostering the talks.
The NDF, through CCP founder Jose Maria Sison, seemed to have read Mr. Duterte well, whom he said was a “very volatile” leader given to hasty decisions.
Speaking before members of the Presidential Security Group and their families on Sunday, Duterte said he offered to talk peace with every rebel group in the country so he could save lives.
Duterte’s angry reaction reflects his openness to shift from friendly overtures he has so far made to the rebels, who have been waging one of Asia’s longest communist insurgencies. “Otherwise, we didn’t talk about anything, that’s my deal”, he said.
Surprisingly, the Duterte administration had no reaction to the charges, only saying in part that the President was lifting his declaration because it went unanswered by the Maoist rebels after a 5 p.m. Saturday (July 30) deadline lapsed.
PRESIDENT Duterte on Monday acknowledged a “rocky road” to peace but held out hope communist rebels would continue the search for an end to a conflict that had torn the country for almost half a century.
“Gusto ko sa generation ko with the MI, MN. huwag lang yung mga criminal (I want to have it in my generation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Moro National Liberation Front, but not with the criminals)”, he said during a press briefing in Malacañan Palace on Monday, August 1.
Duterte had earlier given them until 5 pm on July 30 to declare their own ceasefire.
The cost of fighting with each other and knowing that bullets from the government would kill fellow Filipinos is a “despicable thought”, the President said.
The military said it would “remain alert, vigilant and ready to defend itself and pursue attackers if confronted by armed elements of the New People’s Army” guerillas.
“The NPA’s Southern Mindanao Command said Duterte’s ceasefire was non-existent to the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] and PNP [Philippine National Police]”, he said.
The government has been trying to forge peace with the leftist rebels since 1986 but the on-off talks have faltered many times in the past.
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“We can fine-tune the ceasefire arrangement there because when you come up with bilateral arrangements will be discussed across the table during that particular time”, Dureza explained.
