Philippine rebels end truce with gov't

The Philippine communist rebels announced on Wednesday they are terminating the unilateral ceasefire they declared in August last year as part of an effort to accelerate efforts to end the decades-long communist insurgency in the country.

The central committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Operations Command of the New People's Army said in a statement that the unilateral declaration of ceasefire it declared on Aug. 28 last year "shall effectively expire 11:59 p.m. of February 10."

The statement said the National Democratic Front panel will serve the notice of termination to the negotiating panel of the Philippine government on Wednesday.

"From today until the expiration of the ceasefire declaration, all commands and units of the NPA, including the people's militia and self-defense corps, are tasked to take initiative and more vigorously carry out active defense in order to define the people and the revolutionary forces," the statement read.

The central committee also ordered its armed wing to "counteract, frustrate and punish AFP-CAFGU-PNP interior patrol operations, AFP psywar (psycoholgocal warfare) operations, AFP units occupying villages and communities and enemy armed offensives posing as anti-drug and anti-crime operations."

The rebels said they have decided to end the truce after the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte failed to comply with its promise to free around 200 political prisoners languishing in Philippine jails.

"The (government) has treacherously taken advantage of the unilateral declaration of interim ceasefire to encroach on the territory of the people's democratic government," the statement read.

The rebels said in clear violation of the spirit of the reciprocal ceasefire declarations, the military "has forward deployed its units against the NPA across the country."

Nevertheless, the rebeld said they still support the ongoing peace talks with the government that were kicked off in August last year.

The announcement to lift the truce came a day after the government voiced concern over the series of attacks launched by the communist rebels against its troops and private companies.

Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza issued a statement on Tuesday, saying the government is "distressed and extremely disturbed by the recent (rebels') attacks and harassments" in various areas nationwide.

"We do not wish to unnecessarily squander those gains that even saw (President Rodrigo) Duterte exercising strong political will to move the peace process forward," Dureza said.

Dureza added, "Either some in the National Democratic Front leadership talking to the government are not in full control of their own forces on the ground, or they are themselves undermining these efforts for sustainable peace, or pressuring government for certain concessions."

The Duterte administration is attempting to forge peace with all rebel groups in the Philippines, including the communist and Muslim rebels. Since, 1986, the government has been trying to reach a peace deal with the communist rebels but failed to make any headway. Peace negotiations with the communist rebels were suspended in 2011 and remsumed last year after Duterte came to power.

The communist rebellion began in 1969 and reached its peak in 1987 when it boasted 26,000 armed guerrillas. However, the movement has since dwindled due to differences in strategy and tactics, and the arrests of many of its top leaders in the late 1980s. At present, the military estimates the number of communist armed rebels at around 4,000.

source: Xinhua