No reported violence despite absence of AFP-NPA holiday truce, says official

FILE PHOTO: Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar /Photo from AFPCMOS Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — Even though neither the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) nor the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have agreed to a ceasefire, no violence was reported during Christmas.

AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said Monday that a “peaceful” celebration of Christmas took place.

“There was no violence. There [were] no reported atrocities conducted by the CPP-NPA (New People’s Army),” Aguilar told ANC’s Rundown. “In fact, what happened the past week is more on surrender of personalities, CPP-NPA members from different parts of the country, in Zamboanga del Sur, in Sorsogon area.”

“So, we had a very peaceful celebration of Christmas and we supported the [Philippine National Police] in the conduct of law enforcement operations so that there would be peace and order in our communities,” he added.

READ: ‘No reason’ for holiday ceasefire, says CPP

Aguilar said that 23 guerrilla fronts are currently active in the country. Of the figures, only five are active — four in Samar and one in Mindanao.

For Aguilar, it is “insanity” for the CPP and its armed wing New People’s Army or NPA to believe that they will achieve toppling the government.

“The longest insurgency is stubbornness on their part and for them to think that they will still achieve their ultimate goal of overthrowing the government in political power is already insanity,” he said.

READ: Rebel surrenders, leads authorities to hidden NPA arms cache in Quezon

“Their insistence to survive, to remain is a kind of selfishness on their part because what I believe is that it’s not the ideology anymore, but more of the benefits that they derive from the underground movement because of the resources they generate either domestically or from abroad,” he pointed out.

Aguilar then urged the public to work together with the government to put an end to the communist insurgency.

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