Guns to fall silent as govt, CPP declare truce

(Updated 11:49 p.m.) Guns are expected to fall silent as both the government and communist rebels on Wednesday ordered their forces to observe a mutual ceasefire in celebration of the Christmas and New Year season. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has approved the five-day suspension of military operations (SOMO) as recommended by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) "in keeping with the holiday season." In a statement posted on its website, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said it has ordered its armed wing, the New People's Army, to reciprocate the gesture. The first ceasefire would be observed at 12:01 a.m. on December 24 and end at noon on December 26. A second ceasefire will start again at 12:01 a.m. on December 31 and end at noon on January 1. Active defense mode Both sides, however, said they would maintain an active defense mode during the ceasefire. "We will be on active defense mode, meaning we will defend installations, we will defend communities and our military and police camps," said Armed Forces public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. The military traditionally suspends offensive operations so that government troops can return to their homes and leave their barracks during the holidays. The CPP, for its part, said it will not leave open any quarter for possible military offensives, noting that it does not trust the government's ceasefire declaration. "While the NPA exercises restraint in initiating offensive operations within the unilateral SOMO period, all its units, officers and Red fighters are to maintain heightened vigilance and thwart all enemy offensives and acts of treachery," it said. Brawner said the military may deploy troops at vital installations, like electric and communication towers, to ensure that they would not be subjected to attacks by the rebels. "When we say Suspension of Offensive Military Operations, it only means that we will not launch an operation that is directed against a specific group," he said. Ermita, meanwhile, said security forces would remain on alert for possible attacks by the NPA in time for the CPP's 41st anniversary on December 26. Stalled talks Peace negotiations with the mainstream communist group was stalled in August 2004 when the National Democratic Front, the CPP's political wing, accused the government of not exerting efforts to convince the US and its allies to remove the CPP-NPA-NDF from their list of terrorist organizations. In June 2006, President Arroyo ordered the military and police to crush the communist insurgency by the end of her term in June 2010. But while soldiers assigned to combat communist rebels can look forward to going back home for the holidays, the same cannot be said for those stationed in Maguindanao, where peace remains unstable, Brawner said. "It's still dangerous there in Maguindanao, so our soldiers might not be able to go back home yet," the military spokesman said in Filipino. On Monday, a group of armed men attacked government forces manning a warehouse owned by the powerful Ampatuan clan, which has been implicated in the November 23 election-related massacre in Maguindanao, where 57 persons, including 31 journalists died. President Arroyo placed Maguindanao under martial law from December 4 to December 12 purportedly to quell a rebellion by armed groups believed to be controlled by the Ampatuans. Maguindanao remained under a state of emergency after the lifting of martial rule. — NPA/KBK, GMANews.TV