(Eagle News) — The New People’s Army and government troops will be ordered to “stand down” on June 21 “to stimulate the resumption of formal peace talks.”
This is according to Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, who issued a statement on Wednesday, June 13.
According to Sison, the preliminary ceasefire agreement, which means that both sides will be required to “stay where (they) are” and to not shoot, was a result of successful back-channel negotiations in the Netherlands between the government and the communists.
“The stand-down agreement…is also to prepare for the coordinated unilateral ceasefires, which are a more advanced form of ceasefire,” Sison said.
He said the agreement was reached even after a plan to declare a ceasefire on June 14 was postponed “because of the delayed court permission for the six NDFP consultants to surface and travel.”
He was apparently referring to consultants Benito Tiamzon, Rafael Baylosis, Alan Jazmines, Randal Echanis, Vicente Ladlad and Adelberto Silva, who were allowed by the courts to travel for the talks last week.
Sison said formal peace negotiations were slated to start on June 28, in Oslo, Norway.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered his officials to work toward the resumption of peace talks.
Last year, Duterte canceled the talks following what he said were the abuses committed by the communist rebels despite ongoing negotiations.
