The Philippines declared on Saturday an 18-day unilateral Christmas truce with Maoist guerrillas, in part to let forces focus on relief efforts on a southern island devastated by a typhoon, an army spokesman said.
Both the army and rebels are involved in relief operations in the area and they declared informal truces on 10 December. The truce would also allow soldiers and their families to celebrate Christmas peacefully.
(READ the story from Reuters)