Duterte declares ceasefire with CPP-NPA
President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who recently declared unilateral ceasefire with the communist rebels, is welcomed by officers of the Western Mindanao Command during his arrival at Edwin Andrews Airbase in Zamboanga City on July 21.(MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday declared a unilateral ceasefire with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
Duterte made the announcement before a joint session of Congress during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
“I am announcing a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP-NPA-NDF effective immediately,” he said.
He added: “I expect and call on our fellow Filipinos in the National Democratic Front and its forces to respond accordingly.”
Duterte also vowed to work for a “permanent and lasting peace” before he ends his term in 2022.
“That is my goal, that is my dream,” he said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines expressed support to Duterte’s declaration of peace.
“The Commander in Chief has initiated a very bold move and we fully support him in his effort to bring sustainable and lasting peace to our whole country,” military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said.
Padilla said that the AFP will “abide by the Commander-in-Chief’s instruction.”
He, however, clarified that troops will remain on “alert and vigilant and ready to defend itself and pursue attackers if confronted by armed elements of the NPA.”
“The government has shown its sincerity and we expect no less from the other party,” he added.
The communist rebellion has killed about 30,000 people since the 1960s.
The communists’ armed wing, the New People’s Army, is believed to have fewer than 4,000 gunmen today, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s, according to the military.
But it retains support among the deeply poor in rural areas, and its troops regularly kill security forces while extorting money from local businesses.
Dutere’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, revived negotiations soon after taking office in 2010 but shelved them in 2013, accusing the rebels of being insincere about finding a political settlement.
The talks collapsed after the Aquino administration rejected the rebels’ demand to release scores of their jailed comrades, whom they described as “political prisoners.”
Duterte, who took office on June 30 and counts exiled communist rebel leader Jose Maria Sison as a friend, had previously offered to release some political prisoners.
His aides have already held preliminary talks with Sison and other senior communist leaders, during which they agreed to resume the peace negotiations next month. (MNS)