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Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana denied the claim of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) that President Rodrigo Duterte postponed the peace talks to give way to the military’s all-out offensive plans against the rebel group.

“That is not true. The first briefing during that command conference was conducted by Sec. (Silvestre) Bello to update the president of the result of their back channeling with the National Democratic Front (NDF),” said Lorenzana.

“It was in the course of this briefing and subsequent question and answer that the president decided that he needs more time to review all past agreements between the NDF and GRP and the results of the recent backchanneling,” he noted.

“The president has already decided to postpone the peace talks when the AFP gave their security briefing and a recommendation to postpone the resumption of the talks for 3 months,” Lorenzana added.

On their statement issued on Sunday, the CPP claimed that “the unilateral cancellation by Duterte of scheduled resumption of peace negotiations was made primarily in consideration of the AFP's ongoing campaign plan for all-out military offensive across the country until the end of 2018.”

"By calling off the scheduled peace negotiations with the NDFP ( National Democratic Front of the Philippines), Duterte aims to give the AFP more time to complete its military campaign plan for 2018 of mounting bigger offensives under Oplan Kapayapaan in the hope of crippling the NPA and inducing the NDFP to negotiate a surrender," it stated.

“Last Friday, Duterte unilaterally cancelled the scheduled talks with the NDFP after being briefed on the status of Oplan Kapayapaan in a meeting with the top brass of the AFP and defense officials. Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana has publicly announced that the military wants 3-6 more months before Duterte resumes talks with the NDFP,” it added.

Lorenzana explained the military asked for a three-month postponement to study the stand down agreement signed between the government peace panel and the communist group.

“Their reason was to be able to study the signed stand down agreement and how to implement it,” he said.

The CPP also noted that President “Duterte wants the AFP to rush its all-out offensives against the NPA.”

“The AFP has recruited at least 5,000 troops last year and seeks to add 10,000 more troops until the end of the year. In doing so, Duterte is enabling the AFP to employ Marawi-style tactics of employing an overwhelming force to wage all-out war against civilian populations in order to claim and control their land,” it stated.

This was also denied by Lorenzana, saying the military only intends to continue its normal security operation and not an all-out offensive against communist group.

“In that briefing there was no talk of an all-out war but to continue what they have been doing in the past months, for example, continue their normal security operations to maintain peace and order in the country,” he said.

“If we want an all-out war we would not only request for postponement but termination of the peace talks,” he added. Robina Asido/DMS