Philippine army wants holiday truce with communists
Source: Reuters
(Adds rebels' landmine kills 2 police officers) MANILA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The Philippine military has recommended suspending offensives against communist rebels during Christmas and New Year, the chief of staff said on Wednesday, two weeks after ruling out such a truce. General Hermogenes Esperon however said the military would continue offensives against hundreds of Muslim rebels on a remote southwestern island. "I have given my recommendation to the president," Esperon told reporters on the festive truce with the communist rebels, adding that the final decision would be taken by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Since 1986, the government has observed a holiday ceasefire with communist and Muslim rebels as the mainly Roman Catholic country celebrates one of the world's longest yuletide seasons. The Christmas season in the Philippines started with dawn masses from Dec. 16 and ends on Jan. 6 as Filipinos hold family reunions, exchange gifts and feast on roasted pig and delicacies, such as rice cake and ginger tea. "That is a yearly tradition as a gesture for the yuletide season. It will be a suspension of offensive military operation as a yuletide gesture, but not connected to any peace negotiation," Esperon said. On Wednesday, two police officers, including the chief of a remote town in Agusan province on the troubled southern island of Mindanao, were killed in a landmine attack by communist rebels. Senior Inspector and spokeswoman Nelly Villagracia said the two officers were responding to an emergency call in San Luis town when Maoist rebels detonated the device. The Philippines is fighting long-running communist and Muslim insurgencies. Last year, Arroyo declared a two-day Christmas truce from Dec. 24 to Dec. 25, but kept soldiers on full alert for possible attacks by left-wing rebels because they observe the founding of the Communist Party of the Philippines on Dec. 26. Fighting between the leftist rebels and government forces has killed more than 40,000 people since the late 1960s. Peace talks stalled in 2004 after the United States put the communist rebels on its blacklist of terror groups.
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