MANILA, Philippines — Either New People’s Amy (NPA) rebels are no longer listening to Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison or he cannot – and should not be trusted, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday.
“The latest attack on our soldiers by NPA rebels despite the ceasefire simply means that they don’t listen to Joma Sison anymore. Either that, or he cannot and should not be trusted,” Lacson said in a tweet after the NPA was tagged in the ambush of military and police personnel in Iloilo and Camarines Norte .
The attacks, which killed one soldier and wounded several others, took place despite the truce between the government and the coalition of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
“Localizing the peace talks is still the better way, I think,” added Lacson, who previously headed the Philippine National Police.
Sison has said that the attacks were “only two isolated incidents in places distant from each other in the entire archipelago”, adding that they were not “deliberate” violations of the ceasefire agreement.
Under the agreement, the ceasefire is in effect from midnight of Dec. 23, 2019, to 11:59 p.m. of Jan. 7, 2020.