MANILA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The Philippine military said on Wednesday it would suspend offensives against communist rebels during Christmas and New Year, two weeks after ruling out a festive truce with the New People's Army (NPA). General Hermogenes Esperon, the armed forces' chief of staff, said the military would continue its offensives against hundreds of Muslim rebels on a remote southwestern island. "I have given my recommendation to the president," Esperon told reporters, adding it was up to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to decide on a truce. Since 1986, the government has observed a holiday ceasefire with communist and Muslim rebels as the mainly Roman Catholic country celebrates one of the world's longest yuletide seasons. The Christmas season in the Philippines started with dawn masses from Dec. 16 and ends on Jan. 6 as Filipinos hold family reunions, exchange gifts and feast on roasted pig and delicacies, such as rice cake and ginger tea. "That is a yearly tradition as a gesture for the yuletide season. It will be a suspension of offensive military operation as a yuletide gesture, but not connected to any peace negotiation," Esperon said. The Philippines is fighting long-running communist and Muslim insurgencies. Last year, Arroyo declared a two-day Christmas truce from Dec. 24 to Dec. 25, but kept soldiers on full alert for possible attacks by NPA rebels because they observe the founding of the Communist Party of the Philippines on Dec. 26. Fighting between the NPA and government forces has killed more than 40,000 people since the late 1960s. Peace talks stalled in 2004 after the United States put the communist rebels on its blacklist of terror groups.
