Arevalo said NPA attacks are always possible, thus when the AFP declared the SOMO, Visaya told all military personnel to be cautious against the rebels. Immediately after the President’s declaration, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya ordered all commanders of unified commands, major services and AFP-wide service support units to observe the Suspension Of Military Operations (SOMO) against the communist rebels. The AFP official added that he is hoping that the Communist Party of the Philippines, its political wing the National Democratic Front and the NPA, its armed wing, will reciprocate the military’s action and declare their own SOMO as soon as possible. The attack, which Arevalo described as “isolated,” happened three days after President Rodrigo Duterte declared a unilateral ceasefire with the rebels in his first State of the Nation Address on July 25. DESPITE AMBUSH IN DAVAO NORTEAFP still committed to truce with RedsTHE ambush of members of the Cafgu Active Auxiliary (CAA) by the New People’s Army (NPA) that left a militiaman dead and four others wounded in Davao del Norte would not dampen the resolve of the military to support peace negotiations with communist rebels, a military official said on Thursday.

Source: Manila Times July 28, 2016 11:15 UTC