Joma heeds UN call, recommends unilateral truce

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines — Top rebel leader Jose Maria “Joma” Sison on Tuesday said he was now recommending to the communist leadership in the country to observe its own unilateral ceasefire to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Mainly and essentially my advice is my response to the call of United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The revolutionary forces also need more time and more opportunity in the battle against COVID-19,” Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder, said in an online interview from the Netherlands.

But he said that once CPP’s armed wing, the New People’s Army declared a ceasefire, “they should remain vigilant and ready for self-defense.”—Delfin T. Mallari Jr. INQ

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