By Chito Chavez  The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Tuesday scored the New People’s Army (NPA) and its political fronts, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) for violating its bilateral ceasefire agreement with the state after their armed troops attacked government forces in Rizal last March 28. DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan E. Malaya said the incident only showed that the NPA “never honors its own words and has proven, once again, that it only exists to promote violence and inflict harm to the Filipino people with this attack on Philippine Army soldiers in this critical time of the COVID-19 pandemic’’. "We are now in a state of public health emergency and yet the CPP-NPA-NDF has taken advantage of the lull in military operations to initiate an attack on our troops on the ground. Tunay silang mga traydor sa taong bayan (They are truly the traitors of the whole country)," Malaya saids. At around 3:00 pm, some 30 NPA rebels attacked a group of 18 Philippine Army Community Support Program Team (PACSPT) soldiers who were in Barangay Puray distributing leaflets and relief goods to the distressed residents affected by the enhanced community quarantine. The fatalities during the clash included one soldier and a communist fighter. Malaya noted the bloody incident was a clear violation of the ceasefire policy by the CPP-NPA-NDF during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to help fight and control the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 virus. "Kala ko ba ceasefire (I thought it was a ceasefire)? Let us reflect on how this attack clearly shows the desire for violence of the NPA and its political front organizations. Killing ordinary solders doing work to help communities fight COVID-19 is not a political objective; it is violence in its worst form by communist terrorists," he explained. The terrorist group's political leader and founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines Joma Sison endorsed the ceasefire supposedly "to gain more time and opportunity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to look after the health and overall welfare of the people in both urban and rural areas." "Wala silang isang salita (They do not have any word of honor). Their words are just empty rhetorics. They are not honorable enough to even follow through with their own words. Nakakadagdag lang sila sa mga problema na hinaharap ng ating bansa sa gitna ng krisis na ito (They are just adding to the problem the country is facing in the midst of the crisis)," Malaya said. Instead of mounting offensive attacks against the national government and its military groups, Malaya said the CPP-NPA-NDF must be one with the nation in ensuring that coronavirus will not spread even among their own ranks. The Philippine government declared a unilateral ceasefire with the communist rebels on March 18 to concentrate efforts to combat COVID-19. Initially, the NPA said a unilateral ceasefire is unnecessary but eventually agreed to it on March 25.