AFP: Holiday truce with NPA 'not worth it'

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines is not inclined to recommend that President Rodrigo Duterte declare the traditional Christmas truce with communist rebels, its spokesperson said Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesperson, claimed that suspensions of military operations—SOMOs—have not worked to the best interest of Filipinos.

“We are not inclined to recommend the said SOMO. We see in the past they have not been sincere in any suspension of military operations. They continue with their terroristic, criminal activities, extortion, harassment,” Arevalo said in a press briefing.

He added: “Experience showed us that it’s not worth it.”

In 2016, an Army officer said that rebels had used a ceasefire related to the resumption of formal peace talks to recruit new members into the NPA.

CPP's 50th anniversary

The AFP spokesperson also said that the military does not want the rebels to use the holiday truce as an opportunity to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

The Communist Party of the Philippines will mark its 50th anniversary on December 26. Its armed wing, the New People's Army, turns 50 in 2019.

“We do not want to give them the opportunity to gather and mass up, to joyfully celebrate their 50th anniversary,” Arevalo said.

But he said that President Rodrigo Duterte still has the last say on whether to declare a ceasefire or not.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana made a similar statement, saying he is not inclined to recommend a holiday truce with the NPA.  

Lorenzana and the DND had the same position on the matter last year but Duterte decided not to depart from Christmas tradition by ordering the military to suspend military operations against NPA.

The NPA also declared a ceasefire in 2017.

The Christmas ceasefire has been a customary move by both sides since the launch of formal talks in the late 1980s.