Philippine security forces will unilaterally suspend army offensives against Maoist-led rebels for 60-hours over Christmas, but will maintain defences, a senior government official said today.
Manila will also observe a 24 hour ceasefire New Year, executive secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters.
“We’re calling on them [rebels] not to take advantage of the situation and spoil the Filipinos' Christmas holidays,” Mr Ermita told a press briefing at the presidential palace.
The truce will cover only the 4,000-member communist New People's Army (NPA), which has been waging a protracted guerrilla war since the late 1960s. The conflict has killed about 40,000 people and stunted growth in rural economies.
Maoist guerrillas are expected to reciprocate the government gesture and impose a similar truce, but attacks to mark the 41st anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the rebels' political arm, on December 26th are still possible.
Soldiers will continue to pursue an armed group suspected to be behind the massacre of 57 people in the south and the Abu Sayyaf, a small Islamic militant group engaged in kidnapping in the southern Philippines, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Romeo Brawner said.
Since 1986, the government has observed a holiday ceasefire with communist rebels as the mainly Roman Catholic state celebrates one of the world's longest Christmas seasons.
Reuters