Philippines president declares unilateral ceasefire with Communists

GRP stands for Government Republic of the Philippines.

Since Duterte rose to the presidency, almost 300 suspected drug dealers and users have been killed in reported gunbattles with police and in still-unexplained deaths while more than 129,750 others have been arrested, according to police.

“There will be no let up in this campaign”.

Under Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, peace negotiations with the communists that were brokered by Norway stalled over the government’s rejection of a rebel demand for the release of captured insurgents. “We will increase the number of residential treatment and rehabilitation facilities in all regions of the country”, he added. Swept to power on a surge of public anger at the establishment for its failure to tackle poverty and crime, Mr Duterte soon made worldwide headlines with his incendiary statements, such as promising medals to any member of the public who shoots a drug dealer.

His address was widely anticipated and the buildup dominated by promises by his aides of a rousing speech that would stir patriotism.

He spoke for 90 minutes, longer than the expected 40 minutes and veering from his prepared speech several times.

He was cautious, too, in tackling the country’s dispute with China over sections of the South China Sea, where a Hague tribunal recently found aggressive Chinese expansion to be unlawful.

He said they support the President’s call for unity and peace.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya has ordered the Suspension-Of-Military-Operations (SOMO) against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) effective Monday.

Following these remarks, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto C. Padilla said in a text message also on Monday that Mr. Duterte “has initiated a very bold move and we fully support him in his effort to bring sustainable [and] lasting peace to our whole country”.

“All of us want peace”, Duterte stressed as he said the government was also willing to extend the hand of peace to the Moro rebels represented by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). “We will not stop until the last drug lord, last financer and last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars or below the ground if they so wish”, Duterte said.

Ka Oris said they will “closely observe” how the Army carries out the declaration of ceasefire and “whether there will be a clear termination of military operations and offensives being carried out under the US-designed Oplan Bayanihan counter-insurgency war of suppression”.

The decades-long communist insurgency, one of Asia’s longest, has left about 150,000 combatants and civilians dead since it broke out in the late 1960s.

Award-winning Filipino film director Brillante Mendoza directed the event, including how Duterte was greeted and escorted by congressional leaders to the podium.

“By the end of my term I hope and pray to hand over an economy that is much stronger characterised by solid growth, low and stable inflation and dollar reserves, and a robust fiscal position”, he said. Sison, now the chief political consultant of the NDF, has been living in exile in the Netherlands since peace talks failed in 1987.