UPDATE - Philippines Communist group now issues unilateral truce

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) - The day after President Rodrigo Duterte called off the government's unilateral ceasefire with a communist rebel group, the group has said it is willing to issue a unilateral ceasefire declaration.

Late Sunday, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) posted a statement to the National Democratic of the Philippines official website, saying that the time-frame can be determined through negotiations.

"To further support peace negotiations, the CPP is willing to issue a unilateral ceasefire declaration separately but simultaneously with the Duterte government on August 20," the CPP said.

Reacting to the statement, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said: "Indeed, this is a welcome development. It affirms the value of the president's firm actions for peace. This is what we have been waiting for."

On July 19, Dureza announced that peace negotiations between the government and the group's leadership would formally begin on Aug. 20 to 27, 2016 in Oslo, Norway.

Since then, the president has declared a unilateral ceasefire with the group and its armed wing and political wing in his first State of the Nation address, only for the military to claim that New Peoples Army (the NPA, the CPP's armed wing) rebels had ambushed a Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit two days later, killing a government militiaman and injuring four others.

On Friday, Duterte gave the rebels until 5 p.m. Saturday (0900GMT) to declare a ceasefire, but with no response he called it off Saturday ordering all units to be on high alert.

Hours later, exiled communist leader Jose Maria Sison said the CPP-NPA had expected to declare its own ceasefire at 8 p.m. Saturday -- three hours after failing to meet Duterte's deadline to match his truce.

"There's an announcement to be made [on implementation] by the revolutionary in the Philippines. They are the ones who will decide whether they will release it [the ceasefire declaration]," Sison said

The backwards and forwards has occurred as both sides prepare for the first round of the Olso formal peace talks.

Duterte has been making peace overtures to the National Democratic Front (the CPP's political wing) since he started to campaign for this year's presidential election.

He has sought to bring the rebels back to the negotiating table in an effort to end a Maoist insurgency -- one of the world’s longest running -- that has claimed 30,000 lives since the late 1960s.