Philippines: Christmas truce declared with communist insurgents

Event

On Wednesday, December 20, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared a unilateral Christmas truce with communist insurgents. Duterte urged the insurgents to reciprocate the gesture in a bid to ease public apprehension during the end of year celebrations, when many Filipinos travel to remote areas in the countryside where Maoist guerillas are active. The Department of National Defense had advised the president against a ceasefire. Earlier in December, Duterte  decided to scrap peace talks with insurgent while labeling them terrorists.

This truce is not likely to lessen tensions between the government and the insurgents, and may even prompt attacks by Maoist groups. The New People’s Army (NPA) is mostly active on Mindanao Island.

Context

In February 2017, Duterte first suggested abandoning negotiations with the NPA, warning them to "prepare for a long war." Peace talks were briefly resumed in August 2017. However, on December 5, Duterte declared the NPA a terrorist organization after several attacks were committed by the group against the government, notably the July 19 attack against a presidential security convoy on Mindanao Island.

On a business-related note, the NPA poses a threat to foreign financial and economic interests as they frequently demand taxes imposed on foreign businesses to be increased. They often threaten and conduct attacks targeting foreign-owned infrastructure to enforce their demands.

Advice

Individuals are advised to avoid the Mindanao region, monitor the situation, and obey all instructions issued by the local authorities.

As a reminder, most Western governments formally advise against all travel to southwest Mindanao and to the Sulu Archipelago due to terrorist activity, regular clashes between the military and insurgent groups, and the risk of kidnapping by Abu Sayyaf.