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Philippines' Duterte says talks with rebels make no progress

Xinhua, April 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday that the ongoing talks between the Philippine government and the rebels in Hague in the Netherlands made no progress.

Talks to end the 48-year-long insurgency in the Philippines did not start as scheduled on Sunday after Duterte reportedly imposed some conditions before the government can agree to reopen the talks with the leftist rebels.

"They have not made any progress because I have some conditions to impose before we go back (to the negotiating table)," Duterte said in a speech at the Malacanang presidential palace.

Duterte did not elaborate on the preconditions that he imposed. But government sources said Duterte raised bilateral ceasefire, territory and taxation as preconditions for the resumption of the talks.

Government chief negotiator Sylvester Bello told reporters in the Netherlands that they are in talks with their rebel counterparts to thresh out the issue. He said both sides are still working on the agenda setting for the latest round.

So far there are no words yet whether the talks have opened on Monday.

Last month, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza announced that the government and the rebels have agreed to resume the talks and to restore their separate unilateral ceasefire before the fourth round of talks begins. The talks are supposed to kick off on Sunday and end on Thursday.

Fresh talks hit a snag in February after Duterte scrapped the peace talks that he initiated and ordered his military to launch an all-out war against the rebels.

The on-and-off peace negotiations with the rebels, which started in mid-1980s, are dogged by old issues that prevented the negotiations to move forward like the refusal of the government to free all political detainees and alleged violations of the truce agreements.

Duterte has rejected the rebels' demand for the release of all political prisoners, which he says should only come at the end of the peace talks.

Nevertheless, Duterte has expressed confidence that he could make the rebels agree to a peace agreement during his term which ends in June 2022.

The rebels have been trying to overthrow the government since 1969. The conflict peaked in the 1980s, under the government of Ferdinand Marcos. However, military operation coupled with an internal split crippled the underground organization.

The number of guerrillas dwindled from 26,000 in the mid-1980s to less than 4,000 this year, according to the military. Endit