Policemen seal the muzzles of their firearms to show commitment to its fight against indiscriminate firing during Christmas and the New Year revelry. (INQUIRER PHOTO)
LUCENA CITY, Quezon — The New People’s Army (NPA) across the country will observe a 12-day holiday ceasefire with government forces, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in a statement yesterday.
In an email statement, the CPP Central Committee declared that all NPA units and their militias will observe a ceasefire from Dec. 23, 2015 to Jan. 3, 2016 in solidarity with the traditional celebrations of Christmas and New Year of the Filipinos.
The CPP declaration was authenticated by Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace negotiating panel, based in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines expressed hope that the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) will abide by its self-declared holiday ceasefire against government forces.
“The AFP hopes that the Communist Party of the Philippines will strictly abide by this self-declared ceasefire and will live up to their promise of non-violent and peaceful holidays for the Filipino and their members,” AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla told reporters yesterday.
Padilla said the NPA’s ceasefire is unilateral. The military will hold their own ceasefire but it is still up to the approval of the government higher ups.