Duterte lifts unilateral ceasefire with the Left.
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the immediate lifting of the unilateral ceasefire with the communist rebels that he recently declared in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23, Monday.
This is after the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) failed to meet the 5PM, Saturday afternoon ultimatum that the president gave.
In his statement, Duterte said that he had already directed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to also recall the operational guidelines that they had issued in relation to the ceasefire declaration.
The Commander-in-Chief also advised all security forces to heighten alert and continue their mandate to combat all the threats to national security, protect the citizens, law enforcement and to maintain peace in the country.
“Let me now announce that I am hereby ordering for the immediate lifting of the unilateral ceasefire that i ordered last July 25 against the communist rebels. Correspondingly, I am ordering the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to also withdraw the operational guidelines they issued in pursuance to that ceasefire declaration. I am ordering all security forces to be on high alert and continue to discharge their normal functions and mandate to neutralize all threats to national security, protect the citizenry , enforce the laws and maintain peace in the land,” Duterte said.
Last week, Duterte issued a stern warning to lift the unilateral ceasefire with the NPA following the ambush of the rebel group to the convoy of CAFGU in Davao del Norte that killed one and injured four others.
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“If you do not honor and you kill a single soldier or CAFGU which is also a soldier of the Republic, sabi ko kalimutan ko na lang ito. Fight na lang (I said, let’s just forget about this. Let’s just fight),” said Duterte.
The President said he wants the CPP to give him an explanation by Thursday night or else, he would scrap the ceasefire. He also demands that the NPA rebels responsible for the ambush be punished by the CPP leadership. He later extended the ultimatum until 5PM of July 30 but the rebel group failed to respond accordingly.
