New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), will be the government’s next target after state forces have crushed Islamic State-linked terrorists in Marawi City, President Rodrigo Duterte has warned. Duterte said he no longer wanted to talk to the communist rebels, following their series of attacks against government forces. After this (Marawi siege), we will re-orient and target the NPA,” Duterte told government troops fighting Islamist fighters in Marawi City. This was after CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison said there was no more need for peace talks because of martial law in Mindanao and alleged extrajudicial killings in the government’s drug war. Lorenzana backs DuterteDefense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana however backed Duterte’s decision to cancel peace talks with the NDF.

Source: Manila Times July 21, 2017 16:52 UTC