Aquino declares truce with rebels

President Benigno Aquino III INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Amid open conflict between Malacañang and the Supreme Court and with Christmas just around the corner, President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday offered the public a respite from tension on another front.

Mr. Aquino announced Thursday an 18-day holiday ceasefire with the communist New People’s Army (NPA) starting Friday.

The truce from 12:01 a.m. until midnight of Jan. 3, 2012, was recommended by Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles and the Department of National Defense, Mr. Aquino told reporters.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police later issued separate statements directing security forces to suspend offensives “in the spirit of the yuletide season” against the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

“This will allow PNP maneuver units as well as their adversaries from the ranks of the CPP/NPA to come home to their families to enjoy the holidays,” said PNP Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome.

Lieutenant General Jessie Dellosa, AFP chief of staff, said the move would “give our brothers and sisters who have gone the wrong path a chance to celebrate Christmas and bond with their families and loved ones peacefully.”

Still on alert

The NPA has yet to issue a response to the government announcement.

AFP spokesperson Colonel Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said in a briefing that the ceasefire—a day shorter than last year—would only cover “deliberate offensives” against the NPA.

“It shall not include military actions aimed to secure and protect the populace, vital installations, major investment infrastructures and communities against violent attacks,” Burgos said, citing operational guidelines issued by  Dellosa.

He added that the ceasefire should not prevent the AFP to defend itself individually and collectively, nor to stop it from performing law enforcement operations with the PNP.

Bartolome said all PNP units would remain vigilant and maintain a “high state of operational readiness to respond to hostile actions by domestic threat groups, especially on December 26,”  the CPP’s founding anniversary.

He noted that the local communist movement “is known to stage high-profile hostilities” on that date.

Commitment to peace

Peter Paul Galvez, the spokesperson of the Department of National Defense, said the announcement of the truce was intended to show the government’s commitment to the peace negotiations with the communist leadership.

Peace talks between government and the National Democratic Front, the CPP’s political arm, recently reached an impasse following a disagreement over the release of detained communist rebels.

In 1986, then President Corazon Aquino forged a 60-day holiday ceasefire with the communists, but the agreement collapsed a month later after government troops opened fire on protesters demanding land reform, killing 13 people in what has come to be popularly known as the “Mendiola massacre.”

The government and the communist rebels have yet to return to the peace table months after they first met under the new Aquino government.

The talks stalled over the NPA’s demand for the release of what it said were its peace consultants arrested by the government.

The rebels have since stepped up their attacks, which included the deadly raid of three mining companies in Claver, Surigao del Norte province, that resulted in the destruction of equipment and facilities there.

Originally posted at 01:55 pm | Thursday, December 15, 2011