Preconditions should be observed before the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) are resumed, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Thursday, echoing the stand of President Rodrigo Duterte for the “last chance” of the talks.

Exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison however countered this, saying that setting of preconditions would not follow The Hague Joint Declaration signed in 1992 by former president Fidel Ramos and former NDF chairman Manuel Romero.