Barely two days after President Rodrigo Duterte declared a
unilateral ceasefire for the communist rebels on Monday during his first State
of the Nation Address (SONA), members of the New People’s Army (NPA) on
Wednesday ambushed a convoy of Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU)
in Davao del Norte.
One member of CAFGU and four others were wounded during the
ambush that took place at around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, July 27 in Sitio
Kamunuan, Barangay Gupitan, Kapalong, Davao del Norte, Captain Rhyan Batchar,
chief information officer of the 10th Infantry (Agila) Division, said.
However, the CAFGU member nor the four others wounded were
not identified.
“This is a clear disregard by the NPAs to the declaration of
a unilateral ceasefire by President Duterte,” Captain Batchar told reporters
here on Wednesday afternoon.
He said that in line with the declaration of unilateral
ceasefire, the CAFGU members were ordered to pull-out from their position in
Sitio Kapatagan back to their patrol base in Sitio Patil.
But before reaching their patrol base, the NPAs ambushed the
CAFGU members, Batchar said.
On Wednesday during the regular AFP-PNP press conference at
the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City, Batchar told reporters that offensives
of the Philippine Army in the whole Davao region and neighboring provinces in
Mindanao under the jurisdiction of the 10thID had stopped following the
declaration of the ceasefire by the President and upon the orders of Armed
Forces Chief of Staff Lt. General Ricardo Visaya.
“After the President declared the unilateral ceasefire, we
immediately stopped our operations against the NPA (New People’s Army) rebels,”
Batchar said.
Pulling out of troops back to designated patrol bases were
also ordered in accordance with the unilateral truce declared by the President,
he added.
“But we will continue our support to law enforcement
operations, protect the communities and the people in our areas of
jurisdiction,” Batchar clarified.
He said the Army will also continue to secure vital
government installations and flagship projects being implemented in the area.
“We will not lower our guards, we will always be on alert
despite the presence of the unilateral ceasefire,” Batchar said.
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) welcomed
the unilateral ceasefire declared by President Duterte.
NDFP chair Luis Jalandoni said they still need to receive
and study the full text of the declaration before making their move in relation
to the declaration of a ceasefire.
The Philippine National Police in Davao
“We will comply with the ceasefire as far as offensives and
combat operations are concerned,” said Police Chief Inspector Andrea dela
Cerna, spokesperson of PNP PRO-11 in the same press conference last Wednesday.
Dela Cerna added that the PNP in the area will continue to
perform its law enforcement functions against all forms of criminality.
The intensified campaigns against illegal drugs will also
continue in the region, she added.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=907971
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