Philippines, rebels want peace talks despite feud over truce

“Maybe we did not understand each other”, Duterte said, during a statement delivered before newly appointed officials who took their oath inside Rizal Hall in Malacañang.

Citing a report from the NPA unit involved in the ambush, the CPP said NPA fighters were “provoked as part of its active defence in the face of an imminent armed encounter with the operating armed troops and auxiliary forces of the 72nd IB (infantry battalion) of the AFP”.

The ambush by the New People’s Army (NPA) on a group of government militias that killed one and injured four came two days after President Rodrigo Duterte declared during his State of the Nation Address (Sona) a unilateral ceasefire and asked the communist rebels to reciprocate the gesture.

Duterte on Monday said he’s consulting his advisers about it. Peace Process adviser Jess Dureza previously said he would make recommendations to the President, but chose not to disclose it publicly.

Sunday, the Communist Party of the Philippines said in a statement it would be “willing to issue a unilateral ceasefire declaration separately but simultaneously with the Duterte government on August 20”.

“After President Duterte ordered last night the lifting of the government’s unilateral ceasefire, the leadership of the CPP/NPA/NDF announced through the media its belated but still strategic and awaited decision to also declare its own unilateral ceasefire. If the Tiamzons do not agree to the terms set by the President, then we have a problem”, Alejano told the Inquirer by phone.

“The newly-elected president is too volatile”, Sison, speaking in Filipino, said from The Netherlands.

In the past, he added, the communists were always swift in responding to a Christmas and New Year’s ceasefire.

Duterte, who was sworn in on June 30, declared the government cease-fire Monday during his state of the nation address.

From the above, it is very clear that the President walked the extra mile for peace. You know, his main concern is really how to bring about sustainable peace in the country. Dureza said Duterte, who as Davao City mayor for almost two decades had been known to engage the militant Left, had every intention to seal a comprehensive, lasting peace with communist rebels waging Asia’s longest-running insurgency.

He said the government was still hoping at this stage that the weeklong talks would still push ahead as planned on Aug 20, despite the violence. It has not changed. “Unless, of course, something happens along the way”, he said. “I hope we can proceed with the talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines”, he added.

He cited the “active defense mode” they adopted to welcome Duterte’s ceasefire but maintained “it can not surrender its military initiative and diminish the authority of the People’s Democratic Government by placing in jeopardy the lives of the Red Army and the civilian masses in the face of relentless attacks by the fascist enemies of the people”.

“I am trying to save lives”.

“The CPP and NDF [the CPP’s political wing, the National Democratic Front] should be given enough time to study the implications and consequences of the GRP [government] ceasefire order and what will soon be the CPP unilateral ceasefire order on the NPA”.

But the President said he drew the line with the Abu Sayyaf, saying there was no reason to negotiate with the bandits, saying there was “no redeeming factor” in talking with them. “The time-frame can be determined through negotiations”, the CPP’s Central Committee said in a statement yesterday.