DILG says CPP not ”honorable enough” to follow ceasefire

March 31, 2020

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Tuesday said the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is not “honorable enough” to follow their declared ceasefire after members of the New People’s Army (NPA) attacked government troops in Rodriguez, Rizal last Saturday.

In a statement, Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya condemned the attack which resulted in the death of one solder and injury to two others.

Malaya, the DILG spokesman, said the NPA never honors its own words and has proven that it only exists to promote violence and inflict harm on the Filipino people with this attack on the Army soldiers.

“Their words are just empty rhetorics. They are not honorable enough to even follow through with their own words. They just became additional problem on the crisis the country is facing,” he said.

“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. A real traitor to our country,” he said.

Malaya said the incident is a clear violation of the ceasefire by the CPP-NPA-NDF during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to help fight and control the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 virus.

” 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 said.

The Philippine government declared unilateral ceasefire with the communist rebels last March 18 to concentrate all government efforts to fight the coronavirus.

CPP founder Jose Maria Sison declared a ceasefire last March 25 “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.” Ella Dionisio/DMS