The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) decided Thursday to extend its ceasefire declaration until January 15 after the Philippine government has announced of honoring the suspension of military and police operations up to the same date.

With the extension of the truce, the CPP Central Committee (CC) advised all commands and units of the New People's Army, the leftist group's armed wing, and the people's militias that the end of the ceasefire declared on Dec. 20, 2012 has been "re-extended to 2359H (hour) of January 15."

"Specifics of the December 20 order will remain valid for the duration of this order. This declaration overrides an earlier order by the CPP CC abbreviating the ceasefire to 2359H of January 2, " the group said.

The CPP said the declaration was issued upon the recommendation of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the political wing of the CPP-NPA. This developed being belatedly informed of the formal order by President Benigno S. Aquino III extending the suspension of offensive military and police operations.

The CPP said that the re-extension of the ceasefire order may help in advancing peace process.

The group earlier said that it was unilaterally withdrawing from the joint ceasefire for failure of the Philippine government to comply with the agreement last Dec. 17-18 to extend its own truce order to January 15.

The CPP-NPA-NDFP has been waging war against the government for over four decades.