THE Communist Party of the Philippines ordered its guerrilla forces to suspend for two days their offensive against the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police units all over the country.
In emails sent by CPP spokesperson Marco Valbuena to news organizations nationwide, he said the suspension of guerrilla actions will start from December 25 to 26.
Valbuena said the two-day ceasefire would mark the Party’s 55th anniversary which would be celebrated on December 26.
He said the ceasefire would take effect at “0001 hours of December 25 and end on 2359 hours of December 26.”
“The ceasefire declaration is also in solidarity with the people’s traditional holiday celebration,” the communiqué reads.
This is the first time the Communist Party of the Philippines declared a unilateral suspension of hostilities after its peace talks with the Philippine government broke down during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018.
Major General Jose Maria Cuerpo II, commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division in Northern Mindanao, said they have yet to receive any instructions from the President of the Philippines and the AFP to reciprocate with the ceasefire offered by the communists.
“As for us, our offensive against remnants of the New People’s Army will continue and our patrols will scour the mountains in search of them,” Cuerpo said.
Cuerpo said the 4ID soldiers are on deployment to ensure the safe celebration of Christmas by residents of Northern Mindanao.
He said the NPA is already “a spent force in two weakened guerrilla fronts in Surigao provinces and is downed from 3,000 regulars to about 300 armed members at present.”
Last November 28, the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the Communist Party’s political wing, agreed “to a principled and peaceful resolution” to the decades-old conflict between the two.
