Communist Rebels Free Policeman in 'Goodwill Gesture' in Philippine Peace Talks

Communist guerrillas on Thursday freed a policeman they had seized almost three months ago in the southern Philippines in what the rebels described as a goodwill gesture to bolster ongoing peace negotiations.

Police officer Gerome Anthony Natividad was turned over to an intermediary by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, near the town of Talakag in the outskirts of Cagayan de Oro city, about 1,370 km (853 miles) south of Manila, the Philippine capital.

Natividad was in good spirits when he was reunited with his relatives, said Felixberto Calang, bishop of a local Christian church which brokered the release.

“He was mentally alert and there was no scratch on him,” Calang said. “We were assured that he was not hurt during his captivity. We are happy that we have a successful outcome. We have worked hard for this release.”

Guerrillas seized the officer on Jan. 29 at a road block and said they would free him only if the military and police stopped their armed offensives in the area.

His release came just weeks after negotiators from the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front, the NPA’s political group, agreed to a temporary cease-fire in talks held in the Netherlands.

The peace talks came after the rebels killed three soldiers and almost derailed the process, with President Rodrigo Duterte threatening to pull out of the peace negotiations.

Duterte, a self-declared leftist, has since softened his stance and even invited communist party leader Jose Maria Sison to return to the Philippines from Europe, where he is on a self-imposed exile.

Sison, who is said to be sick, politely declined the offer. In January, Manila said it would ask the United States to remove Sison from a list of wanted terrorists.

The Maoist-inspired NPA has been waging war since the late 1960s. The Philippine Army estimated the NPA’s strength at 3,200 fighters, mostly armed with rifles, at the end of 2015. Some 40,000 soldiers, rebels and civilians have been slain over the course of the conflict.

Duterte has made the release of all captive government troops a condition of the resumption of talks. He had also asked the rebels to end collecting so-called “revolutionary taxes” from local businessmen.

The Army welcomed Natividad’s release, but said it would not suspend military operations against the NPA, which it considers a terrorist organization.

But it agreed to a temporary stand down to pave the way for release of more government troops in the hands of the rebels. Army officials said the NPA was holding one more soldier hostage.

The NPA released two soldiers on April 19, about three months after they were taken captive as they made their way to their military camp in a remote region of the south.