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SAN JOSE, Antique: Communist rebels on Panay Island declared a
unilateral ceasefire for two weeks to give way to typhoon relief
operations, reported Panay News over the weekend.
However, the New People’s Army (NPA) will
defend itself if attacked by the police, military, the para-military
group Cafgu (Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit) or rival
Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade.
In a statement sent to Panay News, Concha
Araneta, spokesperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)
in Panay, described the devastation brought by Typhoon Frank as
unprecedented.
“Besides its direct effect on the masses, the
Party recognizes the extreme and long effects of the calamity that
destroyed products in Panay,” said Araneta.
Panay Island produces 10 percent of the
country’s rice production, Araneta stressed.
The typhoon worsened the “already existing
crisis on rice not only in the island but also in the whole
region,” she added.
Araneta said it is part of the CPP’s agenda to
protect the environment and help the people in times of disasters
either natural or man-made.
Relatives, friends and members of the
revolutionary movement were also affected by the typhoon. Araneta
revealed that they lost houses, too, and their crops were destroyed.
Explaining further the unilateral ceasefire,
Araneta said it would be sad to waste more lives just to show how
inutile the policies and programs of the government are in disaster
preparedness and management.
She called on revolutionary organizations in the
countryside and underground organizations in urban areas to launch
relief operations.
Araneta said their mass organization and the NPA
will help in the rehabilitation of houses and in food production to
mitigate hunger and poverty.
During the two-week ceasefire, Araneta said,
government troops better concentrate in their relief operations,
too, instead of launching offensives against rebels.
The unilateral truce ends on July 8, Araneta
said.
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