Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro. (Photo from the The official Facebook page of the Philippine Department of National Defense)
MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. is not open to a ceasefire with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New People’s Army (NPA) after the group said it would not declare one during this year’s holiday season.
“Any ceasefire with the CPP/NPA/NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front) is a ceasefire against terrorists and criminals. It is a last-ditch measure of a Jurassic group to find relevance in the national political ecosystem,” Teodoro’s statement on Wednesday reads.
His pronouncement came after the CPP’s said that it “cannot” declare a holiday truce “in the face of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s regime’s relentless war of suppression, offensive military operations, and imposition of martial law in the countryside.”
“In its desperation to crush the people’s resistance, the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) is presently undertaking military operations across the country against the Party and NPA. To boost its public image, the AFP has intensified its war of disinformation by making the ludicrous claim that the New People’s Army has only ‘one weakened’ guerrilla front,” the group said on Tuesday.
“This is, however, belied by their own actions. Billions of pesos are currently being squandered in large-scale military deployments and offensives of the AFP across all regions in the country,” it added.
READ: AFP: Only one ‘weakened’ NPA guerrilla front left in PH
For their 56th anniversary, the CPP said NPA units and local peasant mass organizations “are preparing for meetings and small assemblies in order to celebrate past victories, take stock of weaknesses and strengths, and reaffirm their resolve to wage greater struggles in the coming year.”
Last Tuesday, AFP spokesperson. Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said there is only one weakened NPA guerrilla front left in the country and the CPP-NPA no longer has the capability to “stage major operations.”
A weakened guerrilla front means it can no longer implement its programs like recruitment and generating resources for the armed struggle as opposed to active guerrilla fronts.
Since its founding on March 29, 1969, the NPA has carried out the world’s longest-running Maoist insurgency.