Filipino Christmas Truce

From a Channel NewsAsia report:

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo on Thursday declared a unilateral three-week Christmas ceasefire with communist guerrillas and urged them to stop attacks.

This came just after the insurgents raided a police station in the northern town of Caranglan late Wednesday and carted off five M16 rifles and police cellphones, a military report said. [Emphasis mine - ed.]

After learning that the Australian Health System just closed their doors for the holidays, I didn't think that my gut could achieve a more acidic level of disapproval. I was wrong. The Filipino government has taken the pH of my stomach down to zero with the decision to not defend the country during the holidays. And, although it's dumb to do it, it's even dumber to announce to your enemies that you're doing it.

To be fair, they have politely asked their enemy, the communists, to observe the Christmas holiday period also. I'm sure that everything will be just ducky because we know how much the communists respect religion. In fact, didn't President Johnson pull the same stunt in 1968? That worked out just ducky, for the commies.