Tensions ran high outside Malalcañang Palace on Tuesday after presidential guards attempted to stop a street rally urging President Duterte to continue peace talks with communist rebels.

The protesters, mostly relatives of political prisoners and victims of enforced disappearances, converged outside the palace's Gate 2, carrying banners saying "Resume peace talks" and a letter requesting an audience with Duterte.

The situation escalated when members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) arrived to announce that mass actions in the area are prohibited. They seized the protest banners and attempted to confiscate journalists' camera footage of the incident.

Bahagyang nagkatensyon sa Malakanyang nang subukan ng kaanak ng political prisoners na magbigay ng sulat para kay Pres Duterte |@Dennis_Datu pic.twitter.com/Uf7T4HcNbG — DZMM TeleRadyo (@DZMMTeleRadyo) February 7, 2017

One reporter engaged in a tug of war for his cellphone with a PSG guard who attempted to erase video clips of the incident from the device. The journalist secured the footage by fleeing on board his crew cab.

After the tension subsided, activists Amaryllis Hilao Enriquez and Danny Dela Fuento were able to eventually hand their letter for Duterte to the Presidential Management Staff.

Liham ng mga grupong humihiling kay Pang. Duterte na ipagpatuloy ang peace talks, natanggap na ng Presidential Management Staff | @dzmmRP45 pic.twitter.com/VvjRsvAkdy — DZMM TeleRadyo (@DZMMTeleRadyo) February 7, 2017

The protesters then marched towards Mendiola, Manila where they mounted a short program calling for the resumption of peace talks.

The government and rebel sides lifted their unilateral ceasefires in separate announcements last week, after negotiations hit a snag on the insurgents' demand to release political detainees.

Duterte said he was suspending negotiations to end one of the world's longest-running Maoist campaigns. He also branded the rebels as "terrorists."

-- With reports from Dennis Datu and Dexter Ganibe, DZMM