AFP backs end to peace talks with Reds

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to end further peace talks with the communist rebels, with AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo describing it as “the apex of futility.”

The government initially declared a unilateral ceasefire from March 19 to April 15, but Arevalo claimed that the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army had committed 17 violations of its own ceasefire declaration that started on March 26 and ended on April 30. —Jeannette I. Andrade