MANILA - PHILIPPINE communist rebels on Friday unveiled a five-year plan to step up their insurgency and move closer to their goal of establishing a Marxist state.

The Communist Party of the Philippines marked its 40th anniversary with a statement outlining the strategy, which includes confronting government and military officials 'perpetrating treason, plunder and human rights violations.'

The party said officials guilty of those crimes are subject to arrest or battle by guerrilla fighters, and close relatives and friends of officials who benefit from the offences will be treated as accomplices.

Security forces were on heightened alert on Friday for any guerrilla attacks during the anniversary.

The party's armed wing, the 5,000-strong New People's Army, has been fighting against the government since 1969 in what has become one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies.

The party said its army must work harder to destroy government forces and facilities. It also needs to dismantle the 'land-grabbing operations' of agriculture and mining companies that waste land that could be used for farming and destroy the environment.

'The overriding objective of the plan must be to increase the strength of the revolutionary forces and approach the goal of destroying the ruling system and replacing it with the people's democratic state,' the party said.

The rebels announced last week they would observe a holiday cease-fire from Dec 24-26 and again from Dec 31-Jan. 1. The government called a cease-fire for the same dates, with the exception of Friday out of fear the rebels would stage an attack to mark the party's anniversary.

Peace talks between the two sides were suspended in 2004 after the rebels accused the government of instigating the inclusion of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army on the US list of terrorist organisations.

In an informal meeting brokered by Norway in Oslo early this month, rebel negotiators rejected an indefinite cease-fire pushed by the government as a condition for resuming formal talks. No new meetings have been scheduled. -- AP