President Rodrigo Duterte said peace talks with communist rebels may resume in July.

Duterte disclosed this in a speech during the oathtaking of newly-elected barangay chairmen of Region VII in a ceremony held in Cebu on Thursday.

"I’m talking to (Jose Maria) Sison. We will start the talks maybe mid-July," he said.

Sison is the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and a consultant of the National Democratic Front, the political wing of the CPP-New People's Army. He has been in self-exiled in the Netherlands for decades.

Duterte has been inviting Sison to come home for the peace talks.

But Sison has said he would only return to the Philippines if there is significant progress in the talks. Celerina Monte/DMS