DHAKA: The Philippine government and communist rebels have reached a truce, ahead of the resumption of peace talks in Norway, and just a week after President Rodrigo Duterte abruptly called off a unilateral ceasefire.

The restoration of the government’s ceasefire would take effect on Sunday and last “for as long as necessary to bring peace in the land,” Jess Dureza, a top government negotiator, said on Saturday, Al Jazeera publishes this report on Sunday.

“The enabling environment brought about by this silencing of the guns will hopefully go a long way in bringing about an expeditious and early resolution to our differences and aspirations that have long divided us as a people,” he said.

Duterte first declared a unilateral ceasefire with the communist rebels on July 25 but withdrew it six days later, after the rebels killed a member of a government militia.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political arm of the communist rebels New People's Army, declared that their ceasefire would begin on Sunday and last for the duration of the Oslo talks between August 22 and 27.

The communist rebels said the government’s reciprocation of their declaration was “a show of all-out determination to move forward with peace negotiations”.

Dureza assured the rebels that the Duterte administration was willing to “walk the extra mile for peace”.

“Our citizens deserve no less. They wish to live peaceful lives bereft of the costs and tragic consequences of conflict and violence,” he said before leaving for Oslo.

BDST: 1153 HRS, AUG 21, 2016
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