PRESIDENTIAL Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus G. Dureza said on Sunday he will recommend the reinstatement of the government’s cease-fire against the New People’s Army (NPA), following the cease-fire declaration of the communist rebels during the weekend.
On Saturday evening President Duterte lifted the unilateral ceasefire he declared during his State of the Nation Address last week, after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the NPA and its political arm, the National Democratic Front (NDF), did not heed his call for a cease-fire in preparation for formal peace negotiations later this month.
Mr. Duterte gave the communist rebels until 5 p.m. on Saturday to respond to his call for a cease-fire, to which no response was heard from the communist rebels, until three hours later through the media.
“After President Duterte ordered last [Saturday] 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 cease-fire,” Dureza said in a statement released on Sunday. “Indeed, this is a welcome development. It affirms the value of the President’s firm actions for peace. This is what we have been waiting for.”
Dureza said he would make the corresponding recommendations to Mr. Duterte to reinstate the government’s own cease-fire against the communist rebels.
Dureza recounted how the planned peace process with the communist rebels could have been botched with the belated acceptance of the call for a cease-fire.
“By 5 p.m. of July 30, the final deadline the President announced lapsed, and still there was no declaration from the NDF. But the President patiently waited. By 7 p.m., knowing that an unanswered cease-fire declaration was not for the best interest of the nation, the President then authorized the release of a statement declaring the lifting of the cease-fire,” Dureza said.
“However, after an hour thereafter, past the deadline and evidently informed of the President’s announced position, the NDF publicly stated in the media that it was already ready to issue its own corresponding cease-fire declaration,” he said.