NDFP Welcomes Duterte’s Unilateral Ceasefire Announcement
Unilateral Ceasefire Announcement – After President Duterte’s announcement of having a unilateral ceasefire with the Communists rebels during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25, 2016, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) responded immediately.
In a statement released by the NDFP on their website, it said that the group welcomes the announcement of President Duterte to have unilateral ceasefire among the AFP, PNP, and the NPA.
Read also: SONA 2016: Duterte Declares Unilateral Ceasefire With Left
The press release states that the Chairperson of the Negotiating Panel of the NDFP, Luis Jalandoni, wrote a letter to Secretary Silvestre Bello III, the Chairman of the Negotiating Panel of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) accepting the unilateral ceasefire announced by President Duterte.
Jalandoni also confirmed that the group and Duterte have shared the “determination to work for a just and lasting peace.” The chairman also confirmed that the NDFP would be able to respond to the said unilateral ceasefire by the GRP after receiving a formal letter. Also, Jalandoni told Bello that the group is going to study the whole things carefully and do the proper response.
Also, the chairman said that the said ceasefire announcement by the GRP was connected to release all the current political prisoners referred to by the Oslo Joint Statement, dated June 15, 2016.
“Jalandoni assumed that the GRP ceasefire declaration of the GRP is necessarily connected with the release of all current political prisoners under the amnesty proclamation to be issued by the President Duterte and concurred in by a majority of Congress, as referred to by the Oslo Joint Statement of June 15, 2016.”
Lastly, the Jalandoni are set to resume formal peace talks on August 20 to 27 in Oslo between the GRP and the NDFP negotiating panels.
See the FULL press release of the NDFP on the next page.
