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Philippine military assures no spoilers in ceasefire with leftist rebels

Xinhua, August 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) assured Saturday that there will be no spoilers in the military as it will uphold "the letter and spirit" of the unilateral ceasefire declaration of President Rodrigo Duterte with the leftist rebels.

Colonel Edgard Arevalo, chief of AFP's public affairs office, said the 130,000-strong AFP welcomed the breakthrough in the peace negotiations between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Demoratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

"It is a laudable move on the part of the CPP-NPA-NDF to respond positively to President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of reimposition of the ceasefire 'for as long as necessary' to attain lasting peace in the land," he said.

He said the military under the leadership of General Ricardo Visaya "will continue to uphold the letter and spirit of the ceasefire declaration of the Commander-in-Chief."

"The nation can rely on every soldier, sailor, marines, and airmen to help provide an environment conducive to peace so that the negotiators from both panels can work under the climate of trust and the prospect of reconciliation," he stressed.

During the five-day formal peace talks in Oslo, Norway, the leftist rebel leadership Friday agreed to reciprocate the indefinite truce declared by the president.

Both sides also agreed to work for the declaration of a joint ceasefire and to form a third party monitoring committee that will oversee the bilateral truce.

The government and the leftist group hoped to forge a peace pact after a year to end the over four decades communist insurgency in the Philippines. Endit