Cops on alert vs. Reds' attacks amid holiday season

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 18, 2020): Cops on alert vs. Reds' attacks amid holiday season (By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)  December 18, 2020, 1:52 pm

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All police units have been reminded to stay alert and vigilant as there would be no holiday ceasefire between the government and the communist movement this year.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Debold Sinas made the call on Friday, a week before Christmas and the 52nd founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on December 26.

“The CPP-NPA-NDF (National Democratic Front) is known to launch high-profile hostilities to drumbeat commemoration of significant dates in the underground movement over the past five decades,” he added.

Sinas also said, “the recent rash of hostile actions initiated by the CPP-NPA-NDF is all part of that long vicious cycle and a 50-year tradition of violence of the local communist movement.”

He also reminded all police field units to maintain a defensive security posture amid the latest series of CPP-NPA-NDF hostilities against government personnel, isolated government installations, and civilian communities mostly with the use of landmines, long outlawed by international conventions for use in warfare.

Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte earlier declared that the ceasefire with the communist rebels as "dead" and said that he was forced to walk away from "peace talks" after the CPP and its political wing, the NDF asked for the formation of a "coalition government".

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1125153