Ongoing military operations to prevent and disrupt celebrations of their 57th founding anniversary notwithstanding, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said its members successfully held gatherings nationwide and overseas last Friday, December 26.
“Despite heightened counterinsurgency operations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), paramilitary groups, and the Philippine National Police (PNP), Party branches, New People’s Army (NPA) units, revolutionary organizations, and mass supporters successfully organized activities in both urban and rural areas,” the CPP announced today.
The CPP information bureau said that according to initial reports, anniversary events took place in Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Negros Island, and North Central Mindanao.
The groups released photos of NPA military formations as well as activities held in the regions as well as abroad.
“Participants took part in readings and discussions of the CPP Central Committee’s anniversary message, reaffirming their commitment to aspirations of the Filipino people,” the CPP said.
In Southern Tagalog, NPA units held commemorative activities led by NPA-Southern Tagalog (Melito Glor Command) spokesperson Cleo del Mundo.
In Mindoro Island, the Lucio de Guzman Command of the NPA held its own anniversary celebration, led by its spokesperson Madaay Gasic.
Aside from extensive mass work across 84% of Mindoro Island in 2025, Gasic reported 16 battles and encounters the past year which inflicted a platoon-sized casualty against military, paramilitary and police forces, the CPP said.
“Contrary to the AFP-PNP’s goal of destroying our army, their offensives are being effectively resisted and countered by NPA units,” Gasic added.
In Eastern Visayas, members of the NPA’s Mt. Amandewin Command held their own commemoration despite sustained combat operations by the military’s 802nd Infantry Brigade, which resulted in the deaths of three Red fighters in mid-November.
Both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the NPA reported armed encounters in the Bicol Region mere days prior to CPP’s founding anniversary, with government forces claiming to have recovered a stash of buried armaments in Camarines Norte.
The AFP also announced the killing of five alleged NPA fighters in Camarines Sur before Christmas.
The CPP however said that the Manila government has again failed in its prediction to end the CPP-led armed struggle by year’s end.
Domestic, overseas celebrations
Apart from NPA-led activities, allied organizations of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) also organized protests and solidarity events nationwide, the CPP cited.
Two separate marches were held in Manila and Pasay City on December 21 and 22, respectively, participated in by the Kabataang Makabayan (youth), Artista at Manunulat ng Sambayanan (artists and journalists), Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagogn Kababaihan (Makibaka), Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions (workers groups), the Makabayang Kawaning Pilipino (government employees) and Compatriots (Filipino migrant workers).
NDF-affiliated groups also launched a series of graffiti painting and postering campaigns in Metro Manila and Cebu City, while overseas chapters held similar events.
In Australia, Compatriots members organized gatherings and wheat-pasting activities.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands-based NDFP International Office hosted an online broadcast featuring a reading of the CPP Central Committee’s anniversary statement, which drew nearly 300 participants.
“These activities are a direct slap on the face of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the AFP and the National Task Force-Elcac, who all desperately try to downplay the steady growth of the revolutionary movement,” CPP chief information officer Marco L. Valbuena said.
Valbuena added that the successful anniversary events illustrate the CPP’s determination to advance their ongoing rectification movement, now entering its third year. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
