(Eagle News)–The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Sunday, March 29, said the New People’s Army will not honor the ceasefire it earlier declared.
AFP chief of staff General Felimon Santos Jr. made the statement after government troops and NPA rebels figured in an encounter in Rodriguez, Rizal.
A soldier and a rebel died as a result.
“This attack on our people throws away their so-called ‘humanitarian principles’ and expose the exploitative nature of their ceasefire declaration,” Santos said.
The unilateral ceasefire declared by the NPA was supposed to start at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 28.
The NPA had declared this after Jose Maria Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines founding chair, made the recommendation following the United Nations call for warring parties to stop hostilities amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Earlier, the Philippine government declared its own unilateral ceasefire to allow ease of passage to basic goods and necessities amid the enhanced community quarantine.
