Dec 192013
 

A six-day truce announced by the Communist Party of the Philippines is too short, the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Thursday, adding the communist rebels should declare a ceasefire “forever.”

“Napakaiksi naman ng dineclare nila, nag-declare pa sila. (Kung) gusto nila, forever wala nang putukan e, di ba yun ang gusto natin,” AFP Chief of Staff Lieutanant General Emmanuel Bautista told reporters Thursday.

The CCP on Wednesday declared two three-day ceasefires to mark the holidays as well as its founding anniversary.

The truce will be from 12:00 a.m. on December 24 to 11:59 p.m. on December 26, and another from 12:00 a.m. on December 31 to 11:59 p.m. on January 2, 2014. The CPP will celebrate its 45th founding anniversary on December 26.

“Bakit hindi sila mag-declare ng mahaba, forever. Sana, kung magde-declare sila, pang-matagalan na, para yung ating mga kababayan hindi na magdusa sa armed struggle, masyadong matagal na tayong nagdurusa dyan,” Bautista said.

The government has yet to announce a ceasefire of its own but Bautista said the AFP will comply with whatever truce the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process will set.

“Depende sa OPAPP, wala kaming problema. Depende sa OPAPP kung gaano kahaba yung ide-declare na SOMO (suspension of military operations). Whatever is the order, we will follow,” he said.

Peace talks between the government and the CPP-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front have been stalled since April this year. — Amita Legaspi/JDS, GMA News

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