13 ‘weakened’ NPA guerrilla fronts remaining in PH – AFP

Posted to CNN Philippines (Jan 14, 2024): 13 ‘weakened’ NPA guerrilla fronts remaining in PH – AFP (By CNN Philippines Staff)

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 14) — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Sunday said there are still 13 New Peoples' Army (NPA) guerilla fronts scattered across the country but claimed they have already lost their capabilities.

"Yes, 13 weakened, mahina na [weak already]. They are scattered all over the country, merong Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao," AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar told CNN Philippines, describing the supposed state of the remaining guerilla fronts in the country.


The military's statement came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Saturday that there were no more active NPA guerilla fronts and that the government could now claim victory over the armed group.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) described the president as being "in dreamland" for making such a claim, adding that the "NPA is far from defeated," according to a response sent to CNN Philippines on Sunday.

"I think ang sinasabi diyan is wala ng active na [what he is saying is that there are no longer] guerilla fronts ang CPP-NPA, which means na they no longer able to implement party programs that will enable the party to recruit new members and generate resources and establish a united front against the government," Medel said.

READ: PH now has zero active NPA guerrilla fronts Marcos

He added that most of the remaining members, who allegedly are mostly students, farmers, and workers, are "on the run and hiding."

Aguilar said they are still validating their record on the number of NPA members in the country, which stood at 1,600 remaining members as of the third quarter of 2023.

The AFP official said the guerilla fronts have weakened because of the government's efforts to address the roots of the rebels' armed struggle.

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Marcos earlier reported that the government has neutralized almost 1,400 members of "communist and terrorist groups."

Aguilar again appealed to rebels to lay down their arms and return to their families.

"We would like them to go back to our communities, to embrace peace, and to be reunited with their family because this has long been delayed because they were recruited, and they were tasked to do hostile activities that do not bring good results to our communities," Aguilar concluded.
CPP: NPA active in 14 regional commands

In a statement to CNN Philippines on Sunday, CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena claimed that Marcos made the pronouncement "to play to the desires of foreign investors whom he desperately wants to entice with promises of unlimited access to the country's land and natural resources."

Valbuena said the party's armed wing "remains active in 14 regional commands across the country each with a number of guerrilla fronts."

"If Marcos's declarations were true, why is it that around 60-70,000 military and police combat troops (or around 150 battalions of AFP and PNP counterinsurgency units) remain deployed against the NPA across the country?" he said. "Why do they continue to squander hundreds of millions of pesos to drop bombs and fire their howitzers?"

Valbuena said the armed group "has learned its lessons" and is "determined to frustrate" the offensives of the AFP.

"The NPA continues to carry out guerilla maneuvers to break out of the AFP's encirclement, to quietly build a bigger mass base and expand its guerilla fronts," he said. "It will continue to mount tactical offensives to strike at the enemy's weak points."

[CNN Philippines correspondent Daniza Fernandez contributed to this story.]

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