There were no ceasefire violations by the New People’s Army (NPA) in the reported armed encounters on 23 December 2019 in Bicol and Iloilo with soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and a special operations unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP), respectively.

These were defensive actions by the NPA units involved in the face of armed attacks and sustained military operations by the AFP and the PNP (special operations unit), as attested to in separate statements issued by the Romulo Jallores Command, New People’s Army, Bicol, and the Napoleon Tumagtang Command, New People’s Army, Southern Panay.

The statements belie the malicious charges in the press releases earlier issued by the concerned units of the AFP and PNP on the incidents. These can be accessed at the website of the Philippine Revolution Web Central.

In this regard, we wish to inform the public that todate the NDFP has yet to receive copies of the SOMO (Suspension of Military Operations) and SOPO (Suspension of Police Operations) to be issued by the AFP and PNP, respectively, on the basis of a mutual agreement as reflected in the ceasefire order of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).###