Manila withdraws cease-fire after communist attack
MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called off a weeklong cease-fire after communist guerrillas killed a government militiaman and failed to declare their own truce by a Saturday deadline he had imposed.
Duterte had announced the truce on Monday to help end one of Asia’s longest insurgencies which claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1960s.
But the cease-fire was shortlived after communist rebels in the southern province of Davao del Norte killed Wednesday one government militia member and wounded four others.
It was the first irritant in what has been a blossoming relationship between Duterte, who calls himself a left-wing president, and the Maoist guerrillas, who have been waging one of Asia’s longest-running communist insurgencies. Both sides had agreed to resume peace talks next month in Norway, and it was not immediately clear whether the talks would be affected.
After withdrawing his cease-fire order, Duterte issued a statement Saturday evening saying he had ordered all government forces to go on high alert and “continue to discharge their normal functions and mandate to neutralize all threats to national security, protect the citizenry, enforce the laws and maintain peace in the land.”
Duterte, who was sworn in on June 30, declared the government cease-fire on Monday during his state of the nation address. Two days later, however, rebels killed the militiaman and wounded four others in southern Davao del Norte province, angering Duterte.