BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT | Government, rebels declare 16-day holiday truce

December 23, 2019 , 10:34 AM

By Manny Mogato

DECEMBER 23, 2019 – President Rodrigo Duterte’s government and the rebel Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) have mutually agreed to declare a simultaneous 16-day unilateral ceasefire to give Filipinos a respite from violence during the holiday season in a move that could provide space for the resumption of on-again, off-again peace talks.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, in a statement late on Sunday, announced the president has ordered both the military and police to suspend offensive operations against the Maoist-led New People’s Army from December 23 until January 7 next year to reciprocate a similar unilateral ceasefire declared by rebel forces.

Duterte, who enjoyed unprecedented high approval ratings in latest independent polls, has also created a new panel to negotiate a lasting and enduring peace deal with National Democratic Front (NDF), naming Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea as among its members, Panelo added.

Panelo said the cessation of hostilities and reconstitution of the peace panel are “confidence-building measures” which reflect the president’s “seriousness and commitment” to bring “lasting peace among the citizenry of our country”.

“The president wishes that all Filipinos enjoy quietude and serenity as they celebrate the Holiday Season with their loved ones free from violence or any form of disruption,” he said.

The ceasefire will take effect nationwide from 12:00AM of December 23 and shall last until 11:59PM of January 7.

The defense and military establishments readily complied with the president’s directive, said Arsenio Andolong, defense department spokesman, adding they will be on full alert during the entire ceasefire period.

The military, he said, will “stand ready to respond to any threats to the safety and security of our communities.”

This year’s truce with the Maoist-led rebels is one of the longest after the government did not impose a holiday ceasefire last year after Duterte scrapped peace negotiations due to guerrilla violence. The NPAs had a shorter cessation of hostilities from December 24 to 26 and from December 31 to January 1 last year to mark the communist movement’s 50th founding anniversary.

The communist rebels have been waging a protracted guerrilla warfare for 50 years in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and stunted economic growth in the resource-rich but impoverished rural communities nationwide.

Since 1986 when democratic space was restored after the Marcos dictatorship, the government and rebels have been engaged in on-again, off-again peace negotiations and was brokered later by Norway, where talks were held in the last two years.

The left-wing Bayan welcomed the holiday ceasefire as “part of confidence-building measures for the resumption of peace talks next year”, its secretary-general Renato Reyes said in a statement.

“It is also a welcome respite as many provinces have been hot by natural calamities and are engaged in humanitarian and relief efforts,” he said, adding the peace negotiations “are a way to address the root causes of the armed conflict.”

He said the prospect of resuming formal peace talks is “the best Christmas gift to the people by both sides in the armed conflict”. He also called for the removal of obstacles to peace, like the issuance of executive order 80 last year and the release of political prisoners who “play important roles in the talks”.

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