The New People’s Army will observe a two-day ceasefire to mark the 55th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines on Dec. 26th.
The ceasefire will start past midnight on Dec. 25 and end at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 26, the CPP and NPA said in a statement.
“The two-day ceasefire aims to allow the peasant masses and NPA units in their area to conduct assemblies, meetings, or gatherings to celebrate the Party’s anniversary, look back at past achievements, and pay tribute to all heroes and martyrs of the Philippine revolution,” they said.
“This ceasefire declaration is also in solidarity with people’s traditional holiday celebrations,” the statement added.
Although the communist army will not carry out offensives during the ceasefire, it said it will “act in self-defense to counter and frustrate any hostile movement or actions of enemy units within the scope of the NPA’s guerrilla fronts and areas of operations.”
The government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in November announced they are preparing to return to talks towards “a principled and peaceful resolution of the armed conflict.”
Despite the agreement to prepare for peace talks, both sides of the decades-old conflict have said their operations will continue.
While there is no final peace framework, the Philippine Army would “continue its efforts to sustain the gains in Internal Security
Operations by dismantling the weakened guerrilla fronts and neutralizing the remaining armed groups,” it said in November.
The CPP-NPA announcement of a ceasefire comes days after a clash in Balayan, Batangas, where the military said six rebels and an Army soldier were killed.
In the aftermath, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Z. Duterte urged Filipinos not to be deceived by the CPP-NPA-NDF, as she sent her condolences to the family of Sgt. Jernell Ramillano who recently died in an encounter with the insurgents.