MANILA- The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it will go after New People’s Army (NPA) rebels and “hit them hard” following the announcement of President Rodrigo Duterte terminating the government’s ceasefire with communists.

Military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla said the end of the unilateral ceasefire is very unfortunate following the gains in the past months but they will abide by the President’s orders.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday put an end to the government’s ceasefire with the NPA after a series of armed clashes in the past weeks.

The NPA on Wednesday announced that it was withdrawing its unilateral ceasefire.

“We will go after the NPA to prevent them from conducting atrocities and criminal activities against the public and we will hit them hard,” Padilla said as he read the statement of AFP Chief of staff, General Eduardo Año.

“We will abide by the President’s order of ending the unilateral ceasefire. It is unfortunate that the gains of the last six months would come to a halt because the CPP-NPA again resorted to the use of violence and chose arms to advance their interests,” the AFP chief said.

The military, however, maintained that they will continue to support the peace talks with the communists despite the collapse of the ceasefire.

“Be that as it may, rest assured that the AFP will continue to support the peace talks with the NDF to find a permanent peaceful solution to this four-decades long conflict,” the AFP chief said.

Padilla also underscored that even during the existence of the unilateral ceasefires, NPA rebels continued to attack soldiers and were still holding five soldiers hostage.