AFP says no need for ceasefire with NPA: ‘We don’t know who to talk to’

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

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it is confident that a ceasefire with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) is not needed this holiday season.

AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar asserted Tuesday that many of the organization’s leaders have already been “neutralized.”

“We are confident that there’s no need for a ceasefire because we don’t know who to talk to. Many of their leaders have been neutralized,” he said on ANC’s Rundown.

“Second, if we are going to have a bilateral ceasefire with the CPP-NPA-NDF, how can they impose that provision of the ceasefire when there is a leadership vacuum within the underground organization?” he continued.

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

Instead of a ceasefire, the most that the AFP could offer is a suspension of military operations.

“So, there’s no guarantee that the New People’s Army will comply because they don’t have leaders anymore, many of these are already neutralized. That is the reason why — I said before — that the most that we can offer is the suspension of military operations so that our forces, our troops can also enjoy the Christmas season with their families,” said Aguilar.

According to Aguilar, the guerilla fronts of the CPP-NPA have been reduced from 89 to 23.

“That is why yesterday (Monday), it was declared that we have already achieved strategic victory over this armed group,” he said.

Strategic victory, Aguilar said, means that the organization is “no longer capable of mounting large-scale offensive.”

For the spokesperson, the CPP lost its sense of purpose and direction following the death of its founder Jose Maria Sison last Friday, December 16.

READ: Without Joma Sison, CPP-NPA is weakened, and rebels lose motivation – AFP exec

Sison, who was in exile in the Netherlands, died after being confined at a hospital for two weeks.

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