The Philippine government has frozen efforts to resume stalled peace talks with communist rebels following a series of attacks, officials said.

Government negotiators were supposed to hold back-channel talks with their communist rebel counterparts in the Netherlands at the weekend, but the meeting was scrapped after attacks earlier this week.

Three government troops were killed, and six soldiers who were part of the president's security group were wounded in the separate attacks, DPA news agency said.

"Everything is on hold until favourable conditions will be agreed upon by both parties," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters on Friday.

On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte told soldiers in a visit to a military camp in besieged Marawi City, 800 kilometres south of Manila, that the communist rebels would be their next target after fighting armed groups linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

"After we finish off those fools there, we will re-orient our offensive against the New People's Army," he said, referring to the armed wing of the rebel group the Communist Party of the Philippines.

OPINION: Duterte's reality check in Mindanao

"I don't want to talk with them anymore," he added. "They have killed many of our soldiers, many of our police officers. Imagine, killing two soldiers while they were going to the market. That really angers me."

Duterte was referring to two unarmed soldiers who were shot dead while buying supplies at a public market in the town of Roxas in Palawan province, 510 kilometres south-west of Manila, on Wednesday.

The killing was suspected to have been in retaliation for the seizure of a communist rebel training camp a few weeks ago, the military said.

The Philippines has been beset by separate communist and Muslim-led insurgencies in various parts of the country for decades.

Communist fighters and rebels from Muslim armed groups both challenge government forces in parts of the country.

Also on Wednesday, Maoist fighters attacked a checkpoint on the Mindanao Island, killing a paramilitary guard officer and injuring five soldiers from the presidential guard.

READ MORE: Residents mourn battle-ridden Philippine city of Marawi

The clash at the checkpoint came a day after Duterte asked congress to extend martial law until the end of the year to tackle unrest by Islamist armed groups.

The violence highlights the challenge facing a military stretched on multiple fronts in Mindanao, an island of 22 million people.

Documents allegedly obtained by the army showed Maoist rebel leaders had ordered fighters to step up attacks after martial law was imposed in Mindanao on May 23, Ano said.</s>President Rodrigo Duterte holds a caliber 45 pistol while Eduardo Ano, a Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), looks on during a turnover ceremony for procured firearms for the AFP at the Malacanang presidential palace in metro Manila, Philippines July 18, 2017. Pic: Reuters

PEACE talks between the Philippine government and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) hit a snag anew, as a result of the guerilla “attack” in Mindanao that hurt four members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG).

Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza said the government peace panel would not pursue scheduled informal talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF), the political arm of the CPP, after the New People’s Army (NPA), the group’s armed wing, engaged a convoy of the President’s security personnel early Wednesday morning in the southern Philippines.

“I am announcing the cancellation of backchannel talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF originally set within the next few days in Europe due to recent developments involving attacks done by the NPAs,” Dureza said in a statement.

“The situation on the ground necessary to provide the desired enabling environment for the conduct of peace negotiations are still not present up to this time,” he added.

SEE ALSO: Philippines’ Duterte seeks to keep martial law till year’s end

The holding of the informal talks, which was announced recently by Silvestre Bello III, chair of the government peace panel talking with the communist rebels, was agreed by both parties earlier in a bid to resume the stalled fifth round of formal peace negotiations.

Besides the four wounded PSG personnel, a militiaman was killed during the firefight. The rebels also took hostage a government agent.

Government officials said the PSG personnel, who were doing “normal administrative movement for coordination,” encountered some 50 NPA rebels disguising as soldiers at a checkpoint in Arakan town, Cotabato province.

The communist rebels admitted they staged the checkpoint, and that the firefight occurred because the passengers of the unmarked armored vehicle refused to open the doors.

Duterte was not with the PSG convoy.

A day before the firefight between Duterte’s bodyguards and the NPA rebels, the President met with officials and members of the government peace panel to discuss the possible signing of a bilateral ceasefire agreement with communist rebels, a statement from Malacañang said.

During their meeting held at Malacañang Palace, the President directed the government panel negotiating with the NDF not to resume formal peace talks unless the rebels agree to stop their attacks against government troops in Mindanao.

The government panel, led by chief negotiator Secretary Silvestre Bello III, is set to conduct backchannel talks with the NDF to discuss the resumption of formal negotiations between the two groups, the statement said.

SEE ALSO: Philippines president withdraws ceasefire with communist rebels

In the Malacañang statement, Dureza said the resumption of formal talks would depend on the rebel group’s commitment to follow certain guidelines for a possible ceasefire deal with government.

“This includes suspending operations against the military and the police and stopping all their extortion activities on the ground, among others,” the statement said.

However, Dureza later on announced the government will not hold informal talks with the communist rebels following the PSG encounter with the insurgents.

Duterte, for his part, stressed on Tuesday “that the communists really need to stop engaging the military in Mindanao if they want to continue the peace negotiations,” adding that the government “has always dealt with the communist rebels in good faith.”

Before Dureza announced the cancellation of the informal talks, the government panel was planning to discuss the possible inclusion of socio-economic provisions in the interim peace agreement with the communist group.

They stressed that the NDFP needs to order its armed wing to halt all offensive operations against government troops in order to pursue their shared goal of sustaining economic development throughout Mindanao.

The fifth round of peace talks with the rebels was suspended on May 27 following orders by the CPP to the NPA to intensify attacks against security forces after Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23.

He put Mindanao under martial law for 60 days after the ISIS-inspired Maute Group clashed with government security forces trying to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf leader who was designated as “emir” of ISIS in Southeast Asia, in Marawi City.

The government is still conducting clearing operations in Marawi as of Thursday.

Duterte said he wants the martial law in Mindanao extended until the end of the year to fully crush the ISIS-inspired and other local terrorist groups operating in the island.

The Philippine Congress is set to hold a special session on Saturday, July 22, to deliberate the extension of martial law in Mindanao.</s>THE recent attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), in several provinces only shows that the rebels are “communist terrorists,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Friday.

“The latest atrocities perpetrated by the NPA…show why they are rightfully labeled as communist terrorists,” Lorenzana said in a statement.

He cited the attacks against the Presidential Security Group (PSG) in Arakan, North Cotabato and the killing of two Marines in Roxas, Palawan; the burning of equipment of the Department of Public Works and Highways, which was working on “vital infrastructure” in Quezon province; the killing of a policeman in Bukidnon; blasting of landmines that injured six soldiers; and destruction of plantations in Surigao del Sur.

These are the reasons why, the defense chief said, he fully supports President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration to cancel the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

“That is why I fully support the President’s decision not to resume the formal peace talks unless the CPP-NPA stop their attacks and extortion activities, and reign in the warmongers among them,” Lorenzana said.

“The government has proven its sincerity in dealing with the communist movement. This, in turn, has been reciprocated by double talk and treachery,” he added.</s>MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines on Wednesday cancelled talks with Maoist-led rebels due on the weekend in the Netherlands after guerrillas attacked a convoy of President Rodrigo Duterte's security men, killing a paramilitary guard and wounding six.

Duterte was not in the area on the southern island of Mindanao when the clash between the presidential guards and New People's Army (NPA) rebels erupted early on Wednesday.

But the incident was basis enough for peace adviser Jesus Dureza to call off informal, "back channel" talks with exiled leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines aimed at restarting a stalled peace process.

"The situation on the ground necessary to provide the desired enabling environment for the conduct of peace negotiations are still not present," Dureza said in a statement.

Maoist-led rebels have been waging a guerrilla war for nearly 50 years to overthrow the government.

The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people and stunted growth in poor but resource-rich rural regions.

The peace process, an important initiative of Duterte, has been fraught with breakdowns, with both sides abandoning unilateral ceasefires in February, blaming each other for launching attacks while talks were going on.

Duterte on Tuesday met his negotiators dealing with the communists, and told them not to agree to a bilateral ceasefire until the NPA ceased attacks on troops. He also called the political leadership to keep its fighters under control.

The clash at a checkpoint came a day after Duterte asked Congress to extend martial law until the end of the year to tackle rising Islamist militancy.

The Philippines has been beset by separate communist and Muslim insurgencies in various parts of the country for decades.

Communist and Muslim rebels both operate on Mindanao, stretching the military on multiple fronts on the island of 22 million people.

Government forces are battling to defeat Islamic State-inspired rebels who have occupied the heart of the island's Marawi City for 58 days, while operations continue on islands to the west of Mindanao against Abu Sayyaf rebels behind kidnappings and piracy.

Military chief Eduardo Ano said the Maoist rebels were exploiting the security crisis.

"That's why you are seeing now an increase in the intensity of encounters nationwide," he said, adding two marines were also killed by rebels on Palawan island.

Documents obtained by the army showed Maoist rebel leaders had ordered guerrillas to step up attacks after martial law was imposed in Mindanao on May 23, Ano said.</s>Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte inspects firearms during his visit at the military camp in Marawi city, southern Philippines July 20, 2017. — Reuters picMANILA, July 20 — The Philippine government ordered the arrest yesterday of communist rebel leaders involved in peace talks, the day after a guerrilla ambush left five presidential bodyguards wounded in the latest escalation of the half century-long conflict.

The insurgents have been engaged in off-and-on peace talks with Manila to end one of the world’s longest insurgencies that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, since President Rodrigo Duterte was elected last year.

But the government suspended formal peace talks in May, and on Thursday chief government lawyer Jose Calida said guerrilla leaders who were let out of prison to take part in talks were now subject to arrest.

“The Solicitor General already instructed the... solicitors to ask the courts to cancel the bail bonds of the (rebel) consultants, order their arrests, and recommit them to their detention facilities,” Calida’s office said in a statement.

“The conditions (for their conditional release) provide that should the formal peace negotiations cease or fail, their bond shall be deemed automatically cancelled,” it added.

Duterte had freed more than a dozen rebel leaders so they could fly to Europe and serve as consultants to their peace negotiating team, made up mostly of exiled senior communist figures.

The talks were cancelled by the government due to deadly guerrilla attacks on security forces, with the two sides failing to agree to a ceasefire.

After yesterday’s attacks by the communists’ 4,000-member armed wing the New People’s Army—during which gunmen opened fire on two Presidential Security Group vehicles on the southern island of Mindanao—Manila called off a planned informal meeting, saying the situation on the ground was not conducive for peace talks.

“You can just imagine that if the president is on board that vehicle, he could have been assassinated,” military spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo told reporters Thursday.

The rebels said yesterday their armed attacks were in response to Duterte’s plan to extend his 60-day martial law proclamation to the end of the year for Mindanao, the southern third of the country where the rebellion is concentrated.

Arevalo said the rebels had killed two off-duty Marines in an ambush in another part of the country this week.

“Clearly the (rebels) have no intention to genuinely pursue peace negotiations but merely to buy time to consolidate to recruit and to beef up their ranks,” he added.

Duterte had said he needed a longer martial rule to defeat Islamist militants holed up in the city of Marawi in a near-two-month battle that has left more than 550 people dead. — AFP</s>(UPDATED) The Communist Party of the Philippines thumbs down the move as a 'strongman’s act of bad faith'

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Solicitor General Jose Calida said on Thursday, July 20, that he will set in motion the re-arrest of National Democratic Front (NDF) consultants who were temporarily released from detention to participate in the peace talks.

Calida made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered government negotiators not to resume formal talks with communist rebels until their armed units stop attacking government troops in Mindanao, where martial law is in place.

"OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) will ask the courts to cancel all bail bonds of NDF Consultants, order their arrests, and recommit them to their detention facilities," Calida said.

Chief Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza announced that the government was also canceling backchannel talks.

The moves were apparently triggered by a clash on Wednesday between suspected members of the New People's Army (NPA) and the Presidential Security Group (PSG) in Arakan, North Cotabato.

In late May, the government, upon Duterte's orders, pulled out of the 5th round of talks after the Communist Party of the Philippines directed its armed units to intensify attacks against the military following the proclamation of martial law in Mindanao. He had also threatened to re-arrest the NDF consultants then.

"Another unfortunate knee-jerk hardball reaction that does not solve but aggravates the situation," added Edre Olalia, lawyer for the NDF consultants.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) thumbed down the move as a "strongman’s act of bad faith."

"It is a strongman’s act of bad faith aimed at bullying the NDFP to bow to his terms of surrender," the CPP said in a statement on Thursday.

It said Calida's move to seek the rearrest of the NDF consultants "is a violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and violates their democratic rights under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL)."

But Calida, on Twitter, cited a Supreme Court (SC) resolution which says that when peace talks cease, bail bonds are automatically canceled without deference to JASIG.

Twenty NDF consultants were temporarily released to join the peace talks, led by Benito and Wilma Tiamzon who will mark their first year of temporary liberty on August 19.



In February, in yet another roadblock to the peace talks, Duterte terminated the JASIG prompting the justice department to put the consultants on the immigration watchlist.

Calida immediately filed a motion before the Supreme Court (SC) to recall the bail grants.

Olalia said Calida's threat last February was "resolved by March backchannel talks which led to the April 4th round."

With no recalls being issued, Calida is doing the same thing now. – Rappler.com</s>(5TH UPDATE) 'Let us renew the fighting for another 50 years. It's what you want,' President Rodrigo Duterte tells his former teacher

MANILA, Philippines (5th UPDATE) – President Rodrigo Duterte, on Friday, July 21, said he will no longer negotiate for a peace deal with communist rebels following a series of attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA) on government troops.

Speaking at a Davao City investment forum, Duterte said he was "tired" of talking to communist rebels and that they just fight it out instead.

"I believe you Mr Sison, you are right. We stop talking, we're wasting our time," he said, addressing his words to Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison, his former teacher.

After the government moved for the re-arrest of National Democratic Front (NDF) consultants in the peace process on Thursday following the President's order to cancel the talks, the CPP slammed Duterte's pronouncement as "a strongman’s act of bad faith aimed at bullying the NDFP to bow to his terms of surrender."

To this, Duterte said on Friday: "Talagang binubully ko kayo, hindi ka nagkakamali (I'm really bullying you, you're not mistaken)...Let us stop talking. I’m tired."

Though he hoped for an end to the decades-old communist insurgency during his watch, Duterte said he was prepared to fight for another 50 years since the talks no longer seemed promising.

"Let us renew the fighting for another 50 years. It's what you want," he said.

The President even said he can no longer justify spending so much on the formal peace talks, held in different parts of Europe.

"It's a great expense to be sending people there for nothing," he said.

In an apparent bid to convince NPA members to surrender, Duterte said Sison was "dying" and if they wanted out of the conflict, he would accept them as surrenderers.

Duterte said he was prepared for "ferocious" fighting since he had the full force of security troops behind him.

"Me, I have an Armed Forces, a Navy and police. I can fight for another 50 years. Let us agree on that and let us be ferocious at each other," he said.

Duterte's words on Friday clarified his statement on Thursday in Marawi when he told troops he no longer wanted to talk to communists.

Duterte said on Thursday: “Ayaw ko na makipag-usap sa kanila. Marami na akong sundalong pinatay nila. Marami na akong pulis pinatay nila (I don’t want to talk with them anymore. They have killed so many of my soldiers. They have killed so many of my police)."

He had also told soldiers that after the Marawi crisis, they should be ready to “reorient” offensives towards the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

“Pagkatapos nito…’pag naubos ang mga ulol diyan, mag reorient tayo. NPA naman kasi marami silang utang sa atin (After this, when the terrorists there are finished, let’s reorient. Let’s target the NPA because they owe us a lot),” said Duterte.

It was the second time Duterte said he would no longer talk peace with the Left. In February, his decision was prompted by the communists' lifting of their unilateral ceasefire.

Asked about Duterte's Thursday statement, Chief Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza said hours ahead of the President's own clarificatory statement on Friday that nothing was official until he himsefl heard the Chief Executive say, "talks over or terminated."

"What is clear now is that the scheduled backchannel meeting to work on possible resumption of the suspended 5th round was cancelled. If there will a new officially-announced position, then let's all wait for a categorical statement coming from the President no less," Dureza said before the President's speech in Davao City

Solicitor General Jose Calida announced on Thursday that he had moved for the re-arrest of NDF consultants in the peace talks – an indication of the discontinuation of the negotiations.

The NDF consultants' lawyers said this was a "violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and violates their democratic rights under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL)."

OSG Spokesperson Erik Dy said the conditional release granted to some of the consultants are based on Supreme Court ruling resolution dated August 2, 2016, and not on the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

“The conditions provide that should the formal peace negotiations cease or fail, their bond shall be deemed automatically cancelled,” said Dy.

Duterte’s latest pronouncement comes after members of his Presidential Security Group (PSG) were wounded in a clash with the NPA in Arakan, North Cotabato.

After the firefight, Duterte himself said there will be no peace negotiations for as long as the NPA continued its attack on government forces. Chief Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza announced that the government was cancelling backchannel talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) in connection with the scheduled resumption of formal negotiations in August.

Before the clash between NPA and the PSG, Duterte had already been voicing frustrations with the Left. He called their changing stances on his martial law declaration “confusing” and likened them to a “child throwing a tantrum” in recent speeches. – Rappler.com</s>PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has said the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), would be the government’s next target after the state forces have crushed the Islamic State-inspired terrorists in Marawi City.

Duterte issued the warning while saying that he no longer wanted to talk to the communist rebels, following a series of attacks against government forces.

“Huwag kayong masyadong magpakumpiyansa diyan kasi there is a strong resurgence… Nabubuhay na naman ang mga NPA. Pagkatapos nito, leche itong putukan… Pagkatapos nito, maubos ang mga u*** diyan, mag-reorient tayo, NPA na naman,” the President said in his speech during his visit to a military camp in Marawi City on Thursday.

The government cancelled back-channel efforts aimed at reviving formal talks after five members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) were wounded in an encounter with NPA rebels in Arakan, North Cotabato province, on Wednesday morning.

The NPA also attacked twice in Palawan province this week, killing two Marines and wounding another soldier.

Solicitor General Jose Calida also ordered government lawyers to invalidate the temporary liberty granted by various courts to the consultants of the rebel peace negotiators.

Duterte approved back-channel negotiations the night before the Arakan encounter.

The fifth round of talks between the government peace panel and the NDF consultants was initially set from May 27 to June 1 but was cancelled.

Chief government peace negotiator Silvestre Bello 3rd, later on, announced that the talks would resume in August.</s>Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday vowed that he would never visit "lousy" America despite an earlier invitation extended by US President Donald Trump.

Duterte made the declaration as he expressed anger at a US Congress human rights commission hearing where various advocate groups assailed his bloody war on drugs.

"There will never be a time during my term when I will be going to America or thereafter," he told reporters.

"I've seen America and its lousy. They have many human rights violations," he added, referring to US troops fighting in the Middle East.

Duterte, who took office last year, previously announced he was distancing the country from its main defence ally the United States after the administration of then-US president Barack Obama criticised his bloody anti-drug campaign which has left thousands dead.

But after Trump was elected president, he called up Duterte in April and praised the campaign, even inviting him to the White House.

At the time, Duterte said he could not commit to such a visit because he had other overseas trips scheduled.

At a hearing yesterday in Washington on human rights violations under Duterte's war on drugs, US Congressman James McGovern said that Duterte should not have been invited and that he would lead protests against the Philippine leader if he appeared.

This prompted the angry rejoinder from Duterte who said "what makes that guy think I will go to America?"

The Philippine president had previously called Obama a "son of a whore" for his criticism but has been friendly towards Trump.

Duterte continues to enjoy wide popular support despite the spate of killings.</s>THE Armed Forces of the Philippines-Central Command (AFP-Centcom) expressed readiness for any eventuality that may occur following the cancellation of the back-channel talks between the government peace panel and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Colonel Medel Aguilar, Centcom assistant chief of the Unified Command staff for Civil Military Operations, said although they have yet to officially receive a directive from the higher headquarters, Centcom will continue to “stay in defensive posture and conduct security operations.”

“In Central Visayas, we have monitored some movements but not in an alarming level yet. So far, our area remains peaceful,” said Aguilar.

Aguilar said the cancellation of the peace talks will have no great implications.

“We are used to addressing situations like this. With or without peace talks, our security operations will continue because our mandate is to protect the people and the state. It’s up to the other party if they will create trouble because for our part, we are always ready,” Aguilar added.

For peace talks to prosper, members of the CPP-NPA-NDF must do their part, Aguilar said.

Aguilar said insurgency will no longer prosper because the support of the people is now with the military.

He said the fight is no longer about killing but it is about who gets the support of the community.

“We are thankful to the community because we really feel the support,” said Aguilar.

Aguilar explained it is not the government troops who pose a threat to the communists but the development in the community.

Meanwhile, Niño Olayvar, coordinator of Anakbayan Visayas, urged government to resume peace talks.

“The peace talk is a systematic way of resolving the conflict and address the root of the problem,” Olayvar said in Cebuano.

As President Rodrigo Duterte is set to deliver his second State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 24, the Anakbayan Visayas and other militant groups in Cebu City will also hold a protest.

Cebu based militant groups will march from the Cebu Provincial Capitol to Colon Street in Cebu City and urge President Duterte to resume the peace talks.

“We will remind President Duterte what was his promise last year and that includes his commitment to peace,” Olayvar said.

He said the recent ambush by the NPA on a convoy of Presidential Security Group (PSG) personnel is a reminder to government of the need to continue the peace talks.

“Lahi man gud ang appreciation sa government in terms of peace talks. Dili sila mo proceed og walay ceasefire. Dapat mo sit down g’yud ang government with them and talk what are the problems,” he added.
President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte indefinitely freezes the peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines after numerous attacks by the communist rebels on government forces. The President also vowed to re-orient anew the offensive against the Party's armed wing the New People's Army.