December 15, 2015•Update: December 15, 2015
By Roy Ramos and Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
The Philippines’ military has announced that operations against "threat groups" would not be halted despite a communist insurgency declaring a holiday-time ceasefire earlier Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines told reporters in Manila that the ceasefire announced by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) – the political wing of the New People's Army (NPA) -- from Dec. 23 to Jan. 3 is “unilateral.”
Col. Restituto Padilla said that “until the government announces an official truce for the Christmas Holidays, all military and police operations against the rebels and other threat groups will continue.”
He accused the communist rebel forces of not always honoring their truces.
“The AFP hopes that the CPP, and their armed unit the NPAs, will strictly abide by this self-declared ceasefire and will live up to their promise of non-violent and peaceful holidays for the Filipino and their members,” he added.
"The AFP wishes for a peaceful and happy Christmas holidays so that our own soldiers can go home and be with their families and love ones.”
The comments came after the CPP Central Committee announced that its members would cease any offensive operations against government forces in solidarity with the traditional Christmas and New Year celebrations of Filipinos.
"This will also enable the revolutionary forces to carry out mass assemblies and public demonstrations to mark the 47th anniversary of the CPP and celebrate revolutionary victories of the past year,” ABS-CBN News quoted the statement as saying.
The Party, however, also urged NPA guerrillas to remain alert against any “hostile actions or movements” by government forces inside their so-called territories, including “surveillance and other offensive operations including so-called peace and development, civil-military or peace and order operations.”
On the Party’s official website, the chairperson of the CPP-NPA's negotiating arm, the National Democratic Front, said the order was also issued “in support of efforts of peace advocates to foster the resumption of GPH-NDFP peace negotiations on the basis of The Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law."
Luis G. Jalandoni, who lives in the Netherlands, also expressed hope that the government would respond by declaring its own truce, and would view the rebel gesture as an opportunity to resume peace talks brokered by Norway.
Peace talks between the Front and the government – which have been on-and-off for 27 years -- collapsed in early 2013 due to rebel demands that detained comrades be freed.
Last year, the insurgency observed a truce between Dec. 24-26 and Dec. 31-Jan 1 in honor of the holidays, as well as from January 15-19 during Pope Francis’ visit to the country.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines observed a month-long unilateral ceasefire from Dec. 19 to Jan. 20.
After the ceasefire periods, both sides accused each other of violating their own declarations.
Since March 1969, the NPA has been waging one of Asia’s longest running insurgencies, mainly in the poorest regions of the Philippines.
According to government figures, the conflict has claimed around 40,000 lives, including more than 3,000 in the last eight years alone.
Philippine authorities have tagged the rebels as notorious extortionists and blamed them for harassing banana, pineapple and rubber plantations, as well as poultry farms and mining outfits.
