Malacañang Palace stands pat on its decision not to declare a Christmas truce with the communist New People’s Army (NPA). In a statement issued on Sunday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said there would be no yuletide suspension of military operations (Somo) as the NPA had a track record of launching “treacherous” attacks. “The CPP-NPA is notorious for conducting treacherous attacks even when there was unilateral ceasefire in the past during which we have lost scores of our brave defenders,” Roque said. Last week, Duterte said he was also open to expanding martial law across the nation if communists rebels would try to overthrow the government. ADVERTISEMENTCongress had approved Duterte’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2018 due to the threat posed by Islamic State-inspired terrorists and the NPA.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 17, 2017 09:45 UTC