MANILA, Philippines – Units of the New People Army (NPA) have been ordered to cease from making offensive actions against state forces as the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends the ceasefire for 15 more days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a statement from CPP on Thursday, their Central Committee has extended the ceasefire deadline to 11:59 p.m. of April 30 — the deadline of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over Luzon and other areas.
“The CPP ordered the units of the NPA and the people’s militias “to continue to desist and cease from carrying out offensive military actions against the armed units and personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and other paramilitary and armed groups attached to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP),” CPP said.
“The aim of the ceasefire extension, according to the Party CC, ‘is to ensure quick and unimpeded support to all people requiring urgent medical, health and socioeconomic assistance in the face of the public emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic’,” they added. “The Party said all revolutionary forces are ‘ever ready to cooperate with all other forces and elements to achieve this objective.’”
Last March 25, CPP accepted the truce offer of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration for law enforcement agencies to focus on curbing the rise in COVID-19 cases.
However, NPA has drawn flak from various sectors, including the Commission on Human Rights, for violating its own ceasefire declaration. Last March 29, one soldier and another NPA rebel were killed during a firefight in Rodriguez, Rizal.
Another incident in Balangiga, Eastern Samar, where NPA rebels allegedly looted the relief goods intended for the town’s residents cast doubt on NPA’s sincerity in implementing the ceasefire order.
The ECQ over Luzon will end on April 30, although government officials admitted that extending it is possible to prevent widespread infection. As of now, the Department of Health said that there are currently 5,660 COVID-19 patients, 362 of which have died while at least 435 recovered from the disease.
Worldwide, over 2.06 million individuals have been infected, while 134,216 have died from the disease and 513,820 have recovered from it.