The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) slammed the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Monday, Dec. 19, for urging their fighters to mount attacks against state forces this holiday season.
“They are so irresponsible and reckless in their statement,” Col. Medel Aguilar said, acting AFP spokesperson.
The Central Committee of the CPP ordered its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), to mount attacks against the AFP and other government forces as the group announced that it will not declare a ceasefire with the government this holiday season, and in time for their 54th anniversary on Dec. 26.
The CPP also made a similar call when it declared a 10-day period of mourning last Dec. 17 after the death of CPP founder Jose Ma. “Joma” Sison.
Sison died on Dec. 16 after a two-week hospitalization in Utrecht, the Netherlands where he had been in a self-imposed exile since the late 1980s.
For Aguilar, the CPP “completely disregarded” the call for peace of the communities which, he underscored, is what the public wants and deserves.
Nonetheless, the AFP and the Philippine National Police expressed readiness for possible attacks from the CPP-NPA.
"We have not monitored any threat to cause unnecessary fear and anxiety among our people, only the irresponsible and reckless statement of the CPP who cannot accept strategic defeat," Aguilar said.