Gov’t ready for NPA attacks despite holiday truce with Reds

However, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that it did not matter if the NPA does not honor its word because the purpose of terrorist organizations is to “put the government down.” (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — Malacañang on Monday said the government is prepared for possible attacks that may be launched by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), even after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a unilateral and reciprocal ceasefire.

On Sunday, Duterte ordered a 15-day ceasefire from December 23 until January 7 next year to create a “positive environment” ahead of the resumption of formal peace talks with consultants of the CPP’s political arm, the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Duterte earlier announced that Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, former state chief peace negotiator, would hold a dialogue with communist founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison in The Netherlands for the possible revival of peace talks between the national government and the NDF.

However, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that it did not matter if the NPA does not honor its word because the purpose of terrorist organizations is to “put the government down.”

“Let me put it this way: The communist rebels will always want this government to fall; that is precisely the purpose by which this organization has been conceived from the very beginning,” Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

“So it is not far-fetched that they want to eliminate all the officials running this government. But we are prepared for that. We are ready for that, they have been trying to do that for the last 50 years and they have failed,” he added.

Should the NPA launch an attack, Panelo said it will immediately destroy the presumption of their sincerity in resuming peace talks.

He explained that the President is willing to take the risk to push through with the peace talks because he “doesn’t want more bloodshed of our own fellow Filipinos.”

“We want it stopped; it’s about time they return to the fold of the law,” Panelo said.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar lauded Duterte’s decision to call for a truce, stressing that a confidence-building measure has always been part of this administration’s campaign in ending armed conflict.

Andanar said the government will continue the implementation of the initiatives under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

The NTF-ELCAC, established through Executive Order No. 70, implements a whole-of-nation approach to deliver basic social and security services and development and to facilitate inclusivity as the best framework with which the country can address communist armed conflict.

“We will continue to be serious and committed to attaining the peace that this nation has been longing for,” Andanar said.

The PCOO chief was hopeful that the ceasefire will allow the public to celebrate the holidays “free from any form of violence.”

He also wanted to see communist rebels lay down their arms and return to the fold of the law.

Duterte’s decision to order a ceasefire with the communist movement came upon the recommendation of Bello, authorized state negotiator Hernani Braganza, NDF negotiating panel senior adviser Luis Jalandoni, and NDF negotiating panel chairperson Fidel Agcaoili.

On Dec. 5, 2017, the President issued Proclamation 374, classifying the CPP-NPA as terror organizations because of their supposed commission of crimes that are “against the Filipino people, against humanity, and the law of the nations”.

The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have classified the CPP-NPA as a terror group.