DAVAO CITY - The Philippines and leftist rebels plan to declare a ceasefire before President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s first policy speech to Congress next month, a government negotiator said Tuesday.

The truce will be declared after formal peace negotiations resume in the third week of July, one week before Duterte's first ever State of the Nation Address, said incoming labor secretary Silvestre Bello, who is part of the negotiations.

The nearly half-century long Maosit campaign of the New People's Army (NPA), one of the world's longest running insurgencies, has claimed over 30,000 lives according to military estimates.

"After the formal resumption of the talks, both parties will declare a unilateral ceasefire," Bello said.

Informal talks resumed in Norway this month between the leftists' political wing, the National Democratic Front, and Duterte's emissaries, breaking a decade-long deadlock.

Duterte camp, NDF agree on resumption of formal peace talks

The rebels pulled out of negotiations under President Gloria Arroyo's government to protest the inclusion of their leaders in the United States and the European Union's lists of terrorist organizations.