TODAY, the President approved the unilateral declaration by the Government of a nationwide Christmas ceasefire to commence at 12:01 am of December 21, 2013, and to end at 11:59 pm of January 15, 2014.
By this declaration, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is directed to suspend all offensive military operations for the entire duration of the Christmas ceasefire. Our Security forces will maintain their defensive readiness in the protection of our people.
The government continues its traditional call for a Christmas ceasefire to allow those in conflict areas, whether soldier, rebel or civilian, safe passage to celebrate Advent with their families, far from all harm. This year, a Christmas ceasefire gains added urgency with the call for healing and rebuilding that resonate in this Season and its promise of a new life to all.
In a matter of three months, our people have faced major tragedies that have left our nation deeply traumatized. Among these, the onslaught of Super-Typhoon Yolanda in Central Philippines (or Eastern Visayas) has caused the most extraordinary challenge for our entire people with the unparalleled and incomprehensible destruction it has left in its aftermath. It has stretched our nation, indeed all our minds and hearts, to its limits.
Our nation needs to bind our wounds and focus our energies and resources on the tasks at hand. It presents to our country and people the chance to start afresh, to build on new and just foundations: the common wealth for the common good, innovative approaches to governance and development based on justice and fairness, an understanding of nature’s gifts and perils, and the healing of Mother Earth.
In this season of faith, hope and solidarity, we bind ourselves together as a people for the long-term effort to rebuild in our disaster areas and reconstruct the lives, livelihoods and property of the survivors. May the peace and goodwill that must dwell in our hearts become building blocks for a healing and enduring peace in our land.
20