MANILA — The Philippine Army (PA) expressed support for Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.’s decision to reject calls to resume peace negotiations with the New People’s Army (NPA).

“The PA fully supports Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.’s rejection of the proposed resumption of peace talks with the NPA. The Army underscores that the NPA has been designated as a terrorist organization, given its continued use of violence and attacks against civilians and government forces,” Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala said in a statement.

Dema-ala said any possible return to peace talks would require what he described as a genuine abandonment of armed struggle by the group.

He stressed that the Army remains focused on protecting civilians, dismantling armed networks, and supporting a whole-of-nation approach to ending insurgency.

Teodoro earlier rejected renewed peace negotiations despite appeals from some former peace negotiators who had called for talks following a recent clash between government troops and insurgents in Toboso, Negros Occidental that left 19 people dead.

The military has consistently maintained that the NPA should first renounce violence before any formal dialogue can resume.