In his speech during the 38th National Convention of the Philippine Association of Water Districts, Duterte said the revolutionary forces should not coerce him as he had already “conceded too much, too soon.”
We look forward to meeting with our NDF counterparts for the fourth round of talks in April and to discuss the possibility of a bilateral ceasefire agreement on February 22, as agreed upon during the third round of talks held in Rome.
The government peace panel believes there is still a chance to iron out issues following the decision of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army’s National Operations Command to terminate its unilateral ceasefire.
The NPA said government troops are operating in more than 500 villages, more than 164 municipalities and 43 provinces in the country.
We agree that the situation, with various incidents on the ground, had become untenable to sustain without the guidelines and protocols that a bilateral ceasefire provides.