FILE PHOTO: Philippine National Police.
MANILA, Philippines — In anticipation of the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) anniversary on December 26, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will remain in “active defense posture” until the New Year, according to a police spokesperson on Saturday.
Both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the CPP have recently announced that they will not have a ceasefire for the holidays, with the latter saying that there was “absolutely no reason” to do so.
READ: ‘No reason’ for holiday ceasefire, says CPP
“Ang PNP po sir ay mananatili sa kanyang active defense posture hanggang sa matapos itong Bagong Taon at hindi po natin ipu-pullout ang ating mga nakalatag na seguridad nationwide at kasama na rin diyan ang ating mga paghahanda ng nalalapit na anibersaryo ng CPP sa darating na December 26,” said PNP Spokesperson Police Col. Jean Fajardo in an interview on TeleRadyo.
(The PNP will remain in its active defense posture until the New Year ends and we will not pull out the security nationwide and that includes our preparation for the nearing anniversary of the CPP on December 26).
Fajardo added that the PNP has also deployed more personnel to far flung areas.
“Nagdagdag tayo ng pwersa doon sa mga areas na vulnerable to enemy attack, specially yung mga nasa malalayong lugar po na mga police station po at attachment po ay nagdagdag po tayo ng personnel coming from the mobile forces at special action forces,” she expressed.
(We added forces in areas that are vulnerable to enemy attack, specially those police stations and attachments in far areas, we added personnel coming from mobile forces and special action forces).
AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar previously expressed that the most military can do is to offer a suspension of operations in place of a ceasefire. However, Fajardo said that the PNP will likely continue operations, as per the directive of PNP Chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr.
“We are not inclined to recommend the suspension of police operations, and we would rather maintain our active defense posture so that we can somehow be ready in case there are possible enemy atrocities,” said Fajardo.
In 2021, the PNP also remained on high alert for the CPP’s anniversary. According to former PNP Chief Dionardo Carlos in a statement last year, the CPP and its armed wing are “known to stage armed offensive actions to drumbeat commemoration of significant dates in the underground communist organization”.