MANILA, Philippines – Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday, September 18, that he backs the resumption of peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF).

“Hindi pa officially (It is not yet official), but I support that also,” Lorenzana said when asked by reporters of his stance in the resumption of peace talks.

This comes after the Philippine government stopped talking to the communists after a series of attacks by rebel forces against government troops. (READ: Duterte to Joma Sison: ‘Let’s stop talking’)

According to Lorenzana, President Rodrigo Duterte set a condition before considering a continuation: declare a ceasefire first.

“May condition siyang hinihingi eh, na magsi-ceasefire, na hindi pwedeng mag-usap habang nagbabakbakan. ‘Yun ang condition niya eh ,” he said.

(He is asking for a condition, to hold a ceasefire, that we cannot talk if there is fighting. That is his condition.)

He admitted that he has not tried to convince Duterte to continue the conversation with the reds as he has not had the opportunity to do so, but said he will schedule a meeting on the matter.

“‘Di pa kami nag-uusap (We have not talked yet). I am the chairman of the security cluster, siguro magcoconvene kami na magreresume ang (maybe we will convene to talk about the resumption of the) peace talks with the CPP-NPA,” Lorenzana said. – Rappler.com