The path to peace with communist rebels has been a maze of twists and turns navigating a complex puzzle with no clear solution in sight. Since 1986, the government has embarked on a series of peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army–National Democratic Front, attempting to unravel the intricate web of ideology and conflict in the world's longest ongoing communist insurgency spanning 55 years.

The largest and most prominent communist armed conflict in the Philippines witnessed more or less a hundred thousand insurgency-related fatalities since the late Jose Maria Sison founded the CPP on 26 December 1968 to overthrow the government through armed revolution, thus giving birth to the NPA in March 1969. Four years later, its political wing — the NDF — was formed on 24 April 1973.

It is no longer a secret that the CPP-NPA cunningly capitalizes on the country's economic and social inequalities to swell its ranks, rallying around causes like environmental degradation, indigenous empowerment, and equitable land allocation, human rights violations, among others. The group rakes in funds by resorting to thievery and coercion of local enterprises and officials, as well as foreign donations.

Through all the six presidents since 1986, the government has treaded an enigmatic quest for lasting peace with the CPP-NPA-NDF, with more than 40 short-lived talks on record.

PRESIDENT CORAZON C. AQUINO (1986-1992)

6 March 1986 — Four top communist leaders, including Sison and NPA leader Bernabe Buscayno, were released from detention and, later, close to 500 political detainees, overriding military objections.

27 November 1986 — The government and the NDF held the first peace negotiation and agreed to a 60-day ceasefire from 10 December 1986 to 8 February 1987.

22 January 1987 — The NDF withdrew from the formal peace talks on the day of the Mendiola massacre that left 13 dead and 59 injured after a violent dispersal of protesting farmers.

PRESIDENT FIDEL V. RAMOS (1992-1998)

1 September 1992 — After two days of negotiations in the Netherlands, the government and the NDF signed The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, which outlined the commitment to engage in formal talks to achieve "a fair and enduring peace," among other provisions.