Galvez in a statement said he hopes that Sison's death will also put an end to the local communist armed conflict that claimed the lives of so many Filipinos and pushed back development in the countryside.
"It was a period largely defined by armed hostilities, which to this day, is still being felt by Filipinos, especially those whose lives were affected by the communist movement,"Galvez said.
He said the Marcos administration's banner of unity shall vigorously carry out interventions in order to sustain and build on the gains the country has achieved under the peace process.
Galvez renewed his call on the remaining members of the communist movement across the nation to abandon the armed struggle, return to the folds of the law, and rejoin mainstream society.
He also urges them to take advantage of the socio-economic assistance, which the national government provides to former rebels, now called friends rescued, under its Local Peace Engagement (LPE) and Transformation Programs.
"Now is the time for all of us Filipinos to unite and work together to bring a just and lasting peace to our country," he said.
The Department of National Defense (DND) earlier said that Sison's passing is but a symbol of the crumbling hierarchy of the CPP-NPA-NDF, which he founded to violently put himself in power.
The DND statement said Sison's death deprived the Filipino people of the opportunity to bring him, a fugitive to justice under our country's laws.
"Sison was responsible for the deaths of thousands of our countrymen. Innocent civilians, soldiers, police, child and youth combatants died because of his bidding," the statement reads.
Vice President Sara Duterte gave a brief statement on Sison’s death and said, "May God have mercy on his soul.”
Sison has passed away after being confined for two weeks in a hospital in the Netherlands where he was in exile for years. Sison was 83.
According to the information relayed through an email account of CPP chief information officer Marco Balbuena, Sison died around 8:40 p.m., Friday (December 16).
Jose Maria Sison