Military and police officials in Negros Occidental yesterday said they will strictly abide with the 21-day holiday truce with the New People's Army as ordered by President Arroyo, that will start midnight of Dec. 16 and end Jan. 6 next year.

Col. Honorato de los Reyes, Negros island military commander, however, said they will continue to be on alert, but will strictly observe the yuletide unilateral truce.

Senior Supt. Rosendo Franco, provincial police director, said they will stay on a defensive mode, and will only react to aggression from the New People's Army.

This is the first time that the government has declared an uninterrupted SOMO (suspension of military operations) during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

On the other hand, the Communist Party of the Philippines- New People's Army has yet to announce whether they will observe the unilateral ceasefire in the spirit of the Christmas season.

The government declares SOMO during the yuletide season after failing to crush the insurgency problem for almost four decades now.

Meanwhile, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan yesterday denounced plans to deploy two battalions of soldiers and militiamen in Negros , saying they are expecting a “Thunderbolt-like situation” next year.

Bayan-Negros secretary general Felipe Levy Gelle said in a statement that the militarist way of solving the long-standing insurgency in the countrysides will never solve the problem.

What can be expected from it are rising cases of human rights abuses by government soldiers to achieve their objectives of dismantling the so-called guerilla fronts, Gelle claimed.*GPB

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