The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemned the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government’s refusal to declare a holiday ceasefire to reciprocate the truce announcement by the revolutionary Left on Monday.
The CPP said the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government, through its armed forces, too quickly shut the door on a peaceful holiday season for Filipinos.
The CPP said it clearly showed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP)’s bloodlust and intention to spoil the traditional holiday celebrations across the country, especially in areas where all-out war against peasant communities and guerrilla forces are conducted.
“The knee-jerk reaction of the AFP and PNP to the CPP’s unilateral ceasefire declaration shows that Marcos has nothing to offer the people during the traditional holidays but bullets and bombs, as it orders the AFP and the PNP to mount relentless combat operations in the coming days,” CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said.
The AFP, along with the Department of National Defense (DND), refused a reciprocal ceasefire announcement yesterday, dismissing instead CPP’s traditional Yuletide truce declaration a mere “propaganda stunt.”
DND spokesperson and assistant secretary Arsenio Andolong said military duties “are not subject to pause or seasons,” indicating that ongoing military operations against the NPA nationwide would continue.
PNP spokesperson B/Gen. Randulf Tuaño meanwhile said the police shall maintain “security and operational posture” for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
READ: CPP orders 4-day Xmas, New Year ceasefire
At Malacanang meanwhile, Marcos Jr. attended Christmas events on Monday, signalling Palace’s official celebrations of the Yuletide season despite corruption scandals.
CPP’s Valbuena said that while they did not expect a direct response from Marcos Jr. himself, the very immediate negative reaction of the AFP and PNP bares government’s “fascist and anti-people agenda.”
“The AFP refuses to even grant the people a reprieve from its terrorist activities of aerial bombing, artillery shelling, strafing, killings and arrests, and other human rights violations,” Valbuena said.
The CPP said the ceasefire declaration was issued in solidarity with the Filipino people as they hold simple celebrations of their traditional holidays “amid grave social and economic conditions.”
It also called on its membership and revolutionary masses to mark the 57th anniversary of the CPP on December 26.
“On the above specified days, all units of the NPA are directed to go into active defense mode especially in the face of relentless military operations of the AFP against peasant communities and guerrilla fronts across the country,” the CPP Central Commmittee said.
The CPP leadership said the NPA must be ready to strike when necessary to defend themselves and the people against attacking forces of the AFP and PNP. # (Raymund B. Villanueva in Kathmandu, Nepal)
