NPA says it is still strong

By: Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – The New People’s Army’s (NPA) Apolinario Gatmaitan Command in Negros Island said the revolutionary movement remains strong in more than five decades, as the Armed Forces of the Philippines failed to destroy them.

The NPA vowed to continue their armed struggle for another decade as it marked the 51st founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines on Dec. 26, 2019.

Ka Juanito Magbanua, spokesperson of the Apolinario Gatmaitan Command, said in a statement sent to media outfits that they are now on “defensive mode,” and that they will strictly follow the 15-day holiday truce, as ordered by the CPP Central Committee.

The truce is in effect December 23 to January 7, 2020.

Magbanua said they also salute the revolutionary martyrs who offered their lives for freedom and democracy.

But he added that they will conduct active operations to defend themselves in case they are attacked by unfriendly forces.

Capt Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said they made true of their promise to issue the Suspension of Military Operations (SOMO) in the pursuit of genuine and lasting peace for all Filipinos.

Pancito also claimed that it is the NPA that has committed violations of the ceasefire, citing an ambush in Iloilo, where communist rebels used an improvised explosive device.