Duterte lifts truce after no response from communist insurgents

Without hearing anything from communist insurgents after the 5 p.m. deadline he had set, President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday called off the unilateral ceasefire that he declared during his first SONA.

However, according to the founding chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP) Jose Maria Sison, the insurgents had planned to declare a truce at 8 p.m. “But since Duterte had already lifted his ceasefire order, then there’s nothing we can do,” Sison said.


“Let me announce that I am hereby ordering the immediate lifting of the unilateral ceasefire that I ordered last July 25 against the communist rebels,” the President said in a statement.

photo by Rene Lumawag/PPD

He also ordered the withdrawal of operation guidelines the military and the police have issued, and called on government forces to be on alert for threats to national security.

Duterte ordered the ceasefire after he had made friendly overtures to the insurgents. However, two days after his announcement, New People’s Army guerrillas ambushed militiamen who were en route to their base. One was killed and four were wounded in the incident. | ASCS

Source: INQ

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