Army troops in Mindanao ready to observe truce with rebels

Army soldiers in Mindanao. (JEOFFREY MAITEM/INQUIRER MINDANAO)

DAVAO CITY – The military’s 10th Infantry Division here has expressed support for President Duterte’s announcement of a unilateral ceasefire with communist insurgents.

“We have ordered our line units to stop all offensive operations against the NPA (New People’s Army) effective immediately without sacrificing the security and safety of our troops and the security of all vital facilities, installations and population centers,” Capt. Rhyan Batchar, spokesperson of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said in a statement.

President Duterte, in his State of the Nation Address appealed to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its rebel army, the NPA and its political arm, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, to work with the Philippine government in ending the 40-year-old conflict.

“To the CPP/NPA/NDF, let us end these decades of ambuscades and bloody skirmishes. We are going nowhere. And it is getting bloodier by the day,” Duterte said.

“To immediately stop violence on the ground, restore peace in the communities and provide an enabling environment conducive to the resumption of the peace negotiations, I am now announcing a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP/NPA/NDF effective immediately. I expect and call on our fellow Filipinos in the National Democratic Front and its forces to respond accordingly,” Duterte said.  SFM