The World - News from Dec. 25, 1987

With government and rebel forces respecting a 48-hour cease-fire, Filipinos awoke to a peaceful Christmas, a rarity for the holiday since a bloody Communist insurgency began 18 years ago. The nation enjoyed a peaceful Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, and military spokesmen said there were no reports of truce violations across the islands. An armed forces spokesman, Col. Oscar Florendo, said, however, that “it is too early” to say if the cease-fire will hold. In Zamboanga City, 550 miles south of Manila, authorities placed the city’s sea, land and air forces on full combat alert following intelligence reports that suspected Muslim separatists were planning sabotage attacks.