NPA ordered to fight back when ‘provoked,’ says NDF official

New People’s Army guerrillas stand in formation in a guerrilla camp somewhere in the Sierra Madre mountain range after a clandestine press conference in November. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

DAVAO CITY — The National Democratic Front (NDF) on Wednesday said the unilateral ceasefire declared by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) remained in place but added that all its guerrilla units had been ordered to be fight back if attacked.

“We declare that as of today, there have been no orders from the CPP-NPA leadership to revoke its unilateral ceasefire declaration. The CPP-NPA’s unilateral ceasefire remains in place,” said NDF chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili said in a statement.

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Agcaoili said they ordered all units of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA) to be on active defense mode, meaning they can respond to military actions.

The order came in the wake of reported provocation by government forces, he explained.

“What the reported skirmishes indicate is that the GRP military and police have become even more aggressive after their ‘success’ in the Makilala, North Cotabato, incident,” he said.

According to Agcaoili, the military “violated their own ceasefire by mounting a day-long offensive against an NPA unit and attacked the latter in its encampment, killing a Red fighter.”

Because of the incident, “the NPA has been obliged to take an active defense posture to defend and protect the communities and its forces,” he added. CBB