‘No holiday ceasefire in Visayas’

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — There will be no holiday ceasefire with the remaining guerrillas of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the Visayas, the military said yesterday.

Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, chief of the Visayas Command (VisCom), said the Army would continue its focused operation against the communists even as the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) agreed to resume peace negotiations.

The NDF and the NPA are the political and armed wings, respectively, of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which is celebrating its anniversary on Dec. 26.

“There is no formal peace talk yet, it’s just exploratory talks. We’ll continue our focused military operation as well as our localized peace engagement with those who would like to return to the fold of the law,” Arevalo said.

He said the VisCom would adhere to its mandate to end the local communist armed conflict in its jurisdiction.

Earlier, the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) declared that it had dismantled six NPA guerrilla groups operating on the islands of Bohol, Negros and Panay.

Aside from dismantling these groups, the military offensives have “weakened” the remaining NPA factions in Negros and Panay, according to Lt. Col. J Jay Javines, spokesman for the 3ID.