PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday declared a unilateral ceasefire with the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, despite branding them as “terrorist organizations” earlier this month.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the suspension of military operations (SOMO) would begin Dec. 24 and end Jan. 2, 2018.
He said the government hoped the CPP-NPA would make “a similar gesture of goodwill.”
CPP founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison said he doubted the sincerity of the government’s unilateral ceasefire.
“If it is true that the AFP and the PNP will not launch offensive actions, then the NPA has no one to attack,” Sison told Manila Standard.
“But it seems this SOMO is a farce. The NPA will remain on alert against attacks from the AFP and the PNP,” Sison added.
In a chance interview early Wednesday morning, Duterte said that he was considering the declaration of a Christmas truce “so Filipinos could celebrate Christmastime without stress.”
“Look, if I declare a ceasefire, it is not addressed to the NPAs. Rather, I would want to celebrate Christmas with the rest of humankind or Filipinos without stress,” he said during the wake of a slain soldier in Pasig City.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the military would follow President Duterte’s directive regarding the suspension of military operations against the NPA.
“I was actually adamant (on that), I did not recommend the cessation of military operations against the (NPA) but if the President declared (that)… we are going to implement and abide by the directive of the President,” he added.
The Philippine National Police said it too will abide by the order as soon as it has officially received a directive from Duterte to stop police operations against the CPP-NPA.
“The corresponding memo circular will be issued soonest so that all PNP units, offices and stations will be guided accordingly,” PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos said.
The suspension of offensive military operations has been a customary move by both sides since the launch of formal talks in the late 1980s.
