President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front ( CPP-NPA-NDF) has been insisting on resuming the peace talks.

Duterte disclosed this during the oath-taking ceremony of the newly promoted star rank officers of the Philippine National Police in Malacanang.

"Then we have the NPAs. I don't know but they are insisting on resuming the talks," he said.

Duterte said there are also two communist leaders based overseas who want to return to the country for peace talks.

He initially did not want to mention the names of the Maoist leaders, but he later said that they were NDF consultant Luis Jalandoni and NDF chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili.

Duterte unilaterally ended the peace process with the communist rebels when he issued Proclamation No. 360 in November 2017.

He made the decision due to the leftist rebels' continuous acts of violence and hostilities despite the peace process.

Shortly after the termination of the peace talks, Duterte also declared the CPP and NPA as terrorist organizations. Celerina Monte/DMS