File photo: Communist Party of the Philippines leader Jose Maria Sison delivers his speech during the formal opening of the Philippines peace talks in Rome on Jan 19, 2017. (AP)Jose Maria Sison, who launched one of the world's longest-running Maoist insurgencies, has died at 83, the Communist Party of the Philippines announced Saturday. The US State Department designated the communist party and its armed wing foreign terrorist organisations in 2002. Since 1986, successive Philippine administrations have held peace talks with the communists through their Netherlands-based political arm, the NDF. In recent years, the government has claimed that hundreds of communist rebels have surrendered in exchange for financial assistance and livelihood opportunities.

Source: The Standard December 17, 2022 09:35 UTC