CPP/NPA: NPA to reach 10,000 Red fighters in few years amidst Aquino failure to address roots of civil war

From the CPP Website (Jul 12): NPA to reach 10,000 Red fighters in few years amidst Aquino failure to address roots of civil war

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said for the first time in its history, the number of New People’s Army (NPA) Red fighters with high-powered rifles is on its way to reach 10,000 levels in the next few years amidst the utter failure of the Aquino regime to address the nationalist and democratic demands of the Filipino people which are at the root of the raging civil war.

The CPP issued this statement in reaction to public admission by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that it has failed to make a dent on the strength of the NPA. The AFP, however, downplayed its failure by understating the strength of the NPA as “over 4,000” members from the base number of 4,384 when the AFP launched its Oplan Bayanihan campaign in January 1, 2011.

“Clearly, the AFP cannot counter the fact that over the past several years the NPA has steadily continued to grow in strength,” said the CPP. “The nationwide advances of the revolutionary armed struggle is indubitable demonstrated by the increasing frequency and bigger tactical offensives being carried out by the New People’s Army (NPA) in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.”

“To portray themselves as impressive, the AFP repeats the baseless claim that the NPA had the peak strength of 25,000 in 1986 but has recently dropped to 6,000 and has further been whittled down to 4,000 under the Aquino regime,” pointed out the CPP.

“These are all groundless claims being made by the AFP. In fact, the peak strength of the NPA was only at 6,100 Red fighters with high-powered rifles in 1986. Because of the internal errors, the NPA’s strength slowly declined up to 1992 and thereabouts, when the CPP launched the 2nd rectification movement. By 1998, the NPA strength returned to the level of the early 1980s when it started to make big strides forward.”

“Over the past several years, the NPA has surpassed its former peak strength in 1986 and is on its way to reach the 10,000 levels in the next few years,” pointed out the CPP. “The NPA is setting its sights on building around 180 guerrilla fronts nationwide with one company of Red fighters each, and with its armed strength further amplified by tens of thousands of armed militias and members of barrio self-defense committees.”

“Commands of the NPA nationwide continue to fulfill the tasks of extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare, while pushing forward the widespread the revolutionary land reform movement and methodically building the infrastructure of the people’s democratic government from one level to another higher level,” added the CPP. “There are, of course, NPA units that are still small and weak, but these are being assisted by other NPA units that are stronger and more advanced.”

“According to targets of the Oplan Bayanihan made public by the AFP in 2011, the strength of the NPA will supposedly have been reduced by more than half by the middle of 2013 or around this time. The plan set by the AFP in the next phase is to transfer ‘counter-insurgency duties’ to the Philippine National Police and have the AFP concentrate on ‘external threats’.”

“Clearly, the Aquino regime’s Oplan Bayanihan is bound to fail,” said the CPP. “Not only has the AFP failed to reduce the NPA strength to insignificant levels, it has succeeded only in rousing the oppressed people further to engage in armed and unarmed resistance by subjecting them to brutal and repressive military campaigns deceptively characterized by the AFP as ‘peace and development’ operations.”

“The Aquino regime’s Oplan Bayanihan will end up like the Arroyo’s Oplan Gordian Knot and Oplan Bantay Laya I & II, Estrada’s Oplan Makabayan and the first to the fourth phase of the Oplan Lambat Bitag carried out by the Aquino and Ramos regime from 1986 to 1998,” said the CPP. “All these oplans have met utter failure because these are nothing but war plans to suppress the Filipino people and stop them from waging democratic struggles and armed resistance.”

“The correctness and necessity of waging revolutionary armed struggle has become more crystal clear to the Filipino people with the Aquino regime choosing to terminate peace negotiations and further advancing the neoliberal policies that serve the interests of foreign big mining companies and plantations, other big capitalists and Aquino’s big landlords and big business allies to the detriment of the Filipino people.”

“Aquino and his military officials are obsessed with defeating the people’s armed resistance through military force and armed campaigns of suppression,” said the CPP. “Aquino and the AFP are very wrong to think that with all-out US financial and military support, it will be able to put an end to the people’s armed and democratic revolutionary resistance through sheer force.”

“After three years in power and all its political dressing-up, the Aquino regime has failed to win back the trust of the people for the rotten social and political system which has become ever more oppressive and exploitative.”

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20130712_npa-to-reach-10-000-red-fighters-in-few-years-amidst-aquino-failure-to-address-roots-of-civil-war