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Philippine gov't, leftist rebels to hold 5th round of talks in the Netherlands

Xinhua, May 16, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Philippine government and the leftist National Democratic Front, the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, are set to hold their fifth round of peace talks in the Netherlands later this month, the Norwegian Embassy in Manila said Tuesday.

According to Norwegian Ambassador Erik Forner, both sides are determined to continue the peace process.

"There have been several meetings between the parties here in Manila during the past weeks, and we hope it will be possible to take the process even further when the parties meet again for another formal round of talks," he said.

The upcoming negotiation will be held in the town of Noordwijk on May 27 to June 1. This will be the fifth round of talks since formal negotiations were resumed in August last year under the Duterte administration.

The formal peace talks had been stalled in February 2011 under the previous government.

Norway has been facilitator of the peace process since 2001.

Early this month, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza expressed dismay that although peace negotiations with the leftist rebel group were making "some substantial headway," the New People's Army, the armed front of the Communist Party of the Philippines, still continued to wage attacks that victimize civilians and inflict damage on civilian sector.

He also said "there is no doubt at all that our security forces - the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the PNP (Philippine National Police) - with the support of the civilian communities must and can deal with these contingencies" as the government continues to pursue the peace process.

The leftist rebels of the Philippines has been waging war against the Philippine government for 48 years. Endit