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When peace dialogues should be ongoing, Marcos gov’t pronounces revolutionary groups as ‘terrorists’

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The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government maintains its designation of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as so-called terrorist organizations and declared two National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants as alleged terrorist individuals.

On separate resolutions passed around the time when Malacañan Palace announced efforts to resume formal peace negotiations with the NDFP, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) said that based on evidence gathered by law enforcement agencies, the basis for the designation on the CPP and NPA still exists.

ATC Resolution 54–approved last December 6 but only uploaded only last Wednesday to the Manila government’s Official Gazette website–alleges that both the CPP and the NPA committed 268 “atrocities” from December 2020 to August 2023.

The ATC first designated the CPP and the NPA as “terrorist organizations” in its Resolution No. 17 passed in 2021.

ATC Resolution 53, also approved last December 6 but only uploaded last April 17, designated NDFP peace consultant Elizabeth Principe as a so-called terrorist individual.

Earlier ATC Resolution 52, approved last October 25 but only uploaded to the Official Gazette last January 9, also declared Ma. Concepcion Araneta-Bocala as a so-called terrorist individual.

The ATC alleges that both Principe and Araneta-Bocala are CPP Central Committee members and are thus qualified for the designation.

Resolution 53 also alleges the elderly Principe has participated in NPA attacks in Cagayan Valley as late as March 2023, such as in the burning of heavy mining and dam construction equipment in Isabela Province.

Principe has attended a formal round of peace negotiations between the Benigno Aquino Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP in Oslo, Norway January 2011 while Araneta-Bocala has repeatedly attended formal peace negotiations with the Rodrigo Duterte administration throughout Europe from 2016 to 2017.

Both peace consultants are GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees documents of identification holders and included in a reconstituted list of protected peace talks personnel submitted to the Old Catholic Church Patriarch in The Netherlands in 2017.

The GRP already included Araneta-Bocala in an earlier list of so-called terrorists under the Human Security Act of 2007.

The ATC resolutions were signed by Marcos’ executive secretary, Atty. Lucas Bersamin, as chairperson of the ATC as well as other council officials.

The council was created by the passage of Republic Act 11479, otherwise known as the Anti-Terror Act of 2020.

‘Talking to terrorists?’

ATC’s approval of its resolutions 53 and 54 came mere days after both GRP, NDFP and Royal Norwegian Government, Third Party Facilitator to the peace process, simultaneously announced that dialogues between the parties have resumed to try to revive the stalled formal talks last November 28.

ATC’s uploading of both resolutions to the Official Gazette also came at a time when further dialogues between both parties were expected.

The parties’ simultaneous press conferences last November 28 said that further dialogues may be expected in the first quarter of the current year.

The CPP, NPA and NDFP dispute the designation and were affirmed by a September 2022 Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) decision junking their attempted proscription by the GRP as “terrorists”.

In a 135-page resolution penned by Presiding Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar, the Manila RTC said a perusal of the CPP-NPA’s program shows that it is organized not for the purpose of engaging in terrorism.

NDFP Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima earlier told Kodao that the retraction of the terrorist designation of the revolutionary groups shall be among the issues to be discussed in further dialogues with the GRP as part of efforts to resume formal peace negotiations.

“They can’t be negotiating with parties they allege to be terrorists, can they?” de Lima said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)  

Negros political detainees to hold another fast against rights violations

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Political prisoners in Negros are set to hold another 24-hour fast on Friday, April 19, to demand thorough and impartial investigations by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on reported human rights violations since July 2022.

The families and friends of political prisoners under the Negros Occidental chapter of Kapatid (Kapisanan para sa Pagpapalaya ng mga Detinidong Pulitikal sa Pilipinas) said the fast follows CHR’s revelation last March 9 its efforts to investigate the growing number of human rights and international humanitarian law violations in the island is being stymied by the lack of cooperation by various units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Negros.

“It has been 40 days since the said constitutional body made that damning admission yet, until now, the families of victims of these heinous crimes have not been given even the barest minimum attention they deserve from the government,” Kapatid said.

Kapatid added that the investigation should include a follow through on the disappearance of political prisoner Mary Joy Enyong’s daughter Lyngrace Marturillas reported abducted with three others somewhere in Negros’ Hinigaran Highway April 19 of last year.

“It should at least be able to explain why her companion Rogelio Posadas, a National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant, was surfaced dead by the 62nd IB as a casualty in a highly-suspect encounter they claimed to have had with the NPA (New People’s Army) the following day, while the fate of Marturillas and their two habal-habal (motorcycle for-hire) drivers Renald de los Santos and Denald Malen remain in limbo,” Kapatid said.

The political prisoners previously held similar fasts in March 2022, March 2023 and last December on various human rights issues in the island.

They said the rights violations are integral to the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government’s counter-insurgency drive in the island, adding that the island has seen a sharp rise in incidents that include last year’s June 14 massacre of the Fausto peasant family in Himamaylan City.

The political detainees also cited the September 21 massacre of five New People’s Army (NPA) hors d’ combat and their tricycle driver in Kabankalan City as well as the military’s February 21 aerial bombing operation in Escalante City allegedly in pursuit of armed guerillas.

Political prisoners in Negros island number no less than 128 as of April 1, or about 16% of the country’s current total, Kapatid said.

For peace

Kapatid-Negros Occidental also said the fasting of political prisoners is meant to support the growing call for the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government to effect the long-awaited resumption of the GRP-NDF formal peace negotiations.

The Marcos Jr. government, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Royal Norwegian Government, Third Party Facilitator to the peace process, made simultaneous announcements last year on their intention to resume negotiations. 

“The resumption of the GRP-NDF peace talks is necessary to once again bring to the national attention the necessary pro-people solutions to the fundamental problems plaguing our country, which continue to fuel the 55-year old armed rebellion of the CPP-NPA-NDFP,” Kapatid-Negros Occidental said.

The political prisoners are also calling on the Marcos Jr. government to immediately release from the National Penitentiary 75-year old NDFP peace consultant and former Negrense priest Frank Fernandez they said is suffering from various ailments and need immediate medical attention outside prison

“Fernandez, as well as other sick or elderly political prisoners like 84-year old Gerardo de la Peña (at the National Bilibid Prison), 70-year old Cleofe Lagtapon (at the National Correctional for Women), and 61-year old Corazon Javier (at the Canlaon City Jail), deserve to be released immediately on humanitarian grounds, if only to compensate – albeit partially – for their many years of unjust incarceration,” Kapatid added.

The group also revealed that two sick and elderly political prisoners have died in jail since Marcos Jr. became president. 

Marcos Villareal died last December 3 at the Camarines Sur Provincial Jail while 66-year year old Generoso Granado died at the National Bilibid Prison last March 8. 

Out of the more than 800 political detainees, at least 95 political detainees are sick while 75 are elderly, human rights groups said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP rejects AFP’s call to surrender

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‘The need for armed struggle is greater than ever before.’

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) rejected Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Romeo Brawner’s call for New People’s Army (NPA) fighters to surrender, saying the need for armed struggle is “greater than ever before.”

CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said in a statement their party, the NPA, as well as all revolutionary forces know that armed revolution is needed in the face of worsening socioeconomic conditions, oppression and threats to the country’s sovereignty.

“For the broad masses of peasants, workers, and other toiling people suffering from land grabbing, economic dispossession, low wages, joblessness, and other forms of gross social injustice, waging armed struggle now is ever more just and necessary,” Valbuena said.

The CPP spokesperson added their revolution is required to stop the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government’s subservience to the United States of America they said is dragging the Philippines into an armed confrontation with China.

A day after the NPA celebrated its 55th founding anniversary last Friday, March 29, Brawner urged Red fighters to lay down arms and work with the government, adding “ it is time to chart a new course towards reconciliation and healing.”

“I urge every remaining member of the (NPA) to take a moment of reflection and reconsideration,” Brawner said.

‘NPA regaining strength’

Brawner said only 11 “weakened” NPA guerilla fronts remain after government forces killed more than 400 Red fighters in 2023.

After admitting to setbacks in recent years on its own 55th founding anniversary statement last December 26, the CPP however said the NPA is on its way to recovery by implementing the Party’s third rectification movement.

The CPP also ordered NPA units to launch more tactical offensives to defend the people from AFP and Philippine National Police atrocities.

“Under Marcos, the fascist reactionary armed forces has become even more aggressive and brutal in driving the peasant masses and indigenous minorities from their land to allow mining companies, plantations, real estate, energy and other infrastructure projects to expand their environmentally-destructive business operations,” Valbuena said.

“Only by having the (NPA) can the peasant masses effectively fight back against the onslaught of foreign and big business economic aggressors. In the interest of the broad toiling masses, the armed struggle can never be abandoned,” Valbuena said.

“To fight with arms is the only way for the oppressed to defend their life and dignity and fight for a better future,” he added.

The CPP spokesperson said Brawner is also being “utterly hypocritical” when he urges Filipinos to defend Philippine sovereignty and unite against China when the Marcos government is allowing more US troops into the country.

NDFP forces celebrate NPA anniversary

Members of NDFP allied organizations celebrate the NPA’s 55th anniversary by issuing calls for the people to join the guerilla army. (NDFP photos)

Meanwhile, allied organizations of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines celebrated the NPA’s anniversary by conducting slogan painting activities in Metro Manila cities this week.

Members of the Christians for National Liberation, Katipunan ng Gurong Makabayan (Organization of Nationalist Teachers), Makabayang Samahan Pangkalusugan (Patriotic Health Association), Liga ng Agham para sa Bayan (Science League for the People), and Artista at Manunulat para sa Sambayanan (Artists and Writers for the People) and others peppered some areas in Quezon City, Pasig and Manila with “Long live the NPA!” and “Join the NPA!” stenciled and spray-painted slogans.

Kabataang Makabayan (Nationalist Youth) members also held similar activities in Cebu City.

“There is no NPA if there is no hunger, poverty, oppression. The NPA exists to end these!” this poster at the University of the Philippines-Cebu reads. (PRWC photo)

Founded by the CPP in March 29, 1969 in Capas, Tarlac, the NPA is regarded as the longest-fighting guerilla army in Asia. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Red fighters welcome 3rd rectification movement, CPP reports on NPA’s 55th anniversary

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The New People’s Army (NPA) has “wholeheartedly welcomed” the third rectification movement recently launched by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the revolutionary Left reported.

In its traditional NPA founding anniversary statement published today, the CPP’s Central Committee said all of the guerrilla army’s regional commands have responded positively to the rectification movement launched last December 26 on the occasion of the Party’s own 55th founding anniversary. 

“They have responded positively and are presently carrying out summing-up conferences and study meetings to identify the errors and shortcomings in order to rectify these, and steadily and comprehensively carry forward all revolutionary tasks,” the CPP said.

In a nearly eight thousand word statement entitled “Set to blaze the revolutionary armed struggle for national democracy! Carry out the critical and urgent tasks to rectify errors and advance the revolution!” the CPP said the NPA and all other revolutionary forces are in the process of identifying and getting rid of the ideological roots of “past errors, weaknesses and shortcomings.”

The Party said the NPA had been stalled by military conservatism in recent years resulting in fewer tactical offensives against Manila government’s armed forces.

The CPP also acknowledged the loss of veteran NPA commanders in the ongoing total war that started after former President Rodrigo Duterte terminated peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, a strategy that is continuing under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

NPA defeat ’wishful thinking’

The underground Party said their third rectification movement is frustrating government plans to annihilate the NPA however, similar to how its Second Great Rectification Movement has salvaged their revolution from total self-destruction in the 1990s.

This report is in stark contrast to Marcos Jr.’s announcement last January that the NPA has suffered “strategic defeat,” citing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claims that there are no more active Red guerrilla fronts left in the country.

The CPP dismissed the new (AFP) deadline of June 2024 as the date for the destruction of all Red guerrilla fronts and the end of this year as the annihilation of the entire NPA.

Last Tuesday, March 26, Chinese outfit XinhuaNet reported national security adviser Eduardo Ano’s reiteration of AFP’s claim of the NPA’s strategic defeat and total annihilation by year-end.

On the same day, however, the NPA in Quezon province announced it ambushed a 30-man unit of the 85th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Barangay Doña Aurora, Calauag  town.

Three government troopers were wounded in the attack, Apolonio Mendoza Command-NPA spokesperson Cleo del Mundo reported.

The Manila government has declared Quezon province as “insurgency-free” and was put under the so-called Stable Internal Peace and Security category only last June.

All NPA regional commands intact

In today’s statement, the CPP Central Committee said that all 14 NPA regional commands remain intact and is starting to arrest its reverses through intense ideological activities such as the study of Marxist, Leninist and Maoist writings as well as those of its founding chairperson Sison.

The CPP said the NPA is in the process of correcting its military conservatism and directed the guerrilla army to launch attacks to regain strengthen and defend the people from widespread human rights violations resulting from intense government military operations.

“In response, the enemy poured even greater amounts of funds and resources to its counterrevolutionary war and has further intensified its campaign of encirclement and suppression,” the CPP said.

“This has now taken the form of relentless and widespread campaigns of armed suppression against peasant communities, aerial bombing and artillery shelling and large-scale combat operations in scores of guerrilla fronts across the country.”

Acknowledged as the army engaged in the longest armed revolution in Asia, the NPA was founded on this day in 1969 in Barangay Sta. Rita in Capas, Tarlac, a few months after Sison and several others re-established the CPP in neighboring  Pangasinan province a few months earlier in December 26, 1968. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NDFP consultants welcome return of peace talks to national level

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Detained National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants welcome reported dialogues to revive stalled formal peace negotiations with the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), expressing hope to join the talks if efforts succeed.

Long-time NDFP consultant Vicente Ladlad said they welcome efforts to resume formal peace talks with the GRP and the start of its policy changes regarding negotiations with the revolutionary Left.

“It is good they (GRP) decided to elevate peace talks to the national level once again and reverse former president Rodrigo Duterte’s policy of so-called localized peace talks,” Ladlad said.

The 30-year veteran of the GRP-NDFP talks noted that Duterte was of the “mistaken” belief that the GRP shall have eliminated the NPA by the end of his term in June 2022.

“Apparently, they realized that under Marcos Jr., they realized that the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA (New People’s Army)-NDFP is still a viable force. That is why they are going back to negotiating with the NDFP,” Ladlad added.

Following Duterte’s cancellation of formal negotiations in mid-2017, no local CPP, NPA and NDFP formation has also officially engaged the GRP in so-called localized peace talks, the groups clarifying they have only authorized the NDFP Negotiating Panel to negotiate with the Manila government.

Outstanding issues

Ladlad said that one of the hurdles in efforts to revive the talks is Vice President Sara Duterte’s open opposition to the policy change on negotiations with the NDFP.

He said the vice president’s statement on the peace efforts was “very hostile and belligerent” to her president, Marcos Jr.

In an interview after the simultaneous announcement by the NDFP, GRP and the Royal Norwegian Government—Third Party Facilitator of the peace talks–of ongoing dialogues to revive negotiations last December, Vice President Duterte said it was “an agreement with the devil.”

NDFP peace consultant Adelberto Silva for his part said another hurdle to the success of the ongoing dialogues is the insistence of other officials in the Marcos Jr. cabinet to do away with previously signed agreements such as The Hague Joint Declaration and the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

Silva said that The Hague Joint Declaration should remain as the framework of the negotiations as it had already been signed and reaffirmed by both parties numerous times.

“The GRP must also guarantee the safety of the consultants the NDFP wishes to join in the revived peace talks under the JASIG,” Silva said.

Both consultants added the Marcos Jr. GRP must remember that the negotiations are not just about ending the armed conflict but addressing its root causes.

“Otherwise, that’s just surrender talks,” they said.

In an interview with Kodao, NDFP Negotiating Panel chairperson Julie de Lima said there have been at least five dialogues with GRP emissaries since early 2022 when NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison was still alive. (Sison died of illness in December 2022.)

The first four dialogues happened in The Netherlands and the fifth was in Oslo where the November 26, 2023 Joint Communique was signed between GRP officials and the NDFP Negotiating Panel.

De Lima said it was former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Emmanuel Bautista who initiated the dialogues who was later joined by Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. and Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo  Jr. at the fifth round of dialogues in Oslo, Norway. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Huling Bahagi)

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Sa ika-apat at huling episode ng panayam na ito, sinagot ni National Democratic Front of the Philippines Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima Sison kung ano ang kabuluhan ng ikatlong kilusang pagwawasto ng Communist Party of the Philippines sa usapang pangkapayapaan. Mangyayari ba ang pagpapasuko ng administrasyong Marcos Jr. sa rebolusyonaryong kilusan? Ano ang epekto sa pagkawala nina Prof. Joma Sison, Fidel Agcaoili, Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Austria at iba pa sa negosasyon? Ano ang panawagan niya sa mga kasapi ng NDFP at mamamayan kaugnay sa usapang pangkapayapaan?

PANOORIN:

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikatlong Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikalawang Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Unang Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikatlong Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikatlong Bahagi)

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Sa episode na ito, ano ang masasabi ni National Democratic Front of the Philippines Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima Sison sa mga pahayag ng mga opisyal ng pamahalaang Marcos Jr. kung ano ang gusto nilang katangian ng sinusubukang buhayin na usapang pangkapayapaan? Bakit nga ba nakikipag-usap ang NDFP sa isa na namang gubyernong Marcos? Ano nga ba ang tunay na interes ng gobyernong Marcos Jr. sa mga diskusyon sa posibleng pagbuhay ng usapang pangkapayapaan? Paano kapaki-pakinabang ang usapang pangkapayapaan sa mga maiinit na isyung pambayan?

PANOORIN:

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Unang Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikalawang Bahagi)

PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Ikalawang Bahagi)

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Sa episode na ito, ibinahagi ni National Democratic Front of the Philippines Negotiating Panel Chairperson Julie de Lima Sison ang kwento kung paano nagsimula ang kasalukuyang pag-uusap sa posibleng pagbuhay ng negosasyong pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng kanilang panig at ng Gubyerno ng Republika ng Pilipinas sa ilalim ng administrasyong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Sino ang unang lumapit? Ano ang mga isyung kanilang pinag-uusapan? Ano ang talagang nais ng gubyernong Marcos Jr? Ano ang tugon ng NDFP? At ano ang estado ng mga dayalogo sa kasalukuyan?

Panoorin ang unang bahagi ng panayam rito: PANAYAM KAY JULIE DE LIMA SISON (Unang Bahagi)

Khan: NTF-ELCAC harmful to peace talks efforts

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United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan said the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration’s decision to open peace talks with the revolutionary Left is a positive signal but urged however for the abolition of the government’s anti-insurgency task force.

Among her recommendations in her exit press briefing last Thursday, February 2, Khan said the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) should be abolished “to allow for more inclusive peace-building platforms.”

“The tone of the new Administration, coupled with its decision to open peace talks with insurgents and a renewed engagement with the international community, are positive signals,” Khan said.

“But addressing the serious and deep-seated human rights issues will require more fundamental and sustained reforms,” she added.

Khan said the NTF-ELCAC is “outdated” and stressed that “does not take into account the ongoing prospects for peace negotiations.”

The government, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Royal Norwegian Government simultaneously announced ongoing discussions for the possible resumption of formal peace negotiations.

Immediate rejection

Khan’s recommendation was however immediately rejected by Marcos administration officials, even accusing the UN expert of blindsiding the government with her preformed opinions before arriving in the Philippines.

National security adviser Eduardo Año, Peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr., interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., National Security Council assistant director Jonathan Malaya and media security task force head Paulino Gutierrez in unison rejected Khan’s recommendation of Khan to abolish the NTF-ELCAC.

“Please take note that this is a 55-year old running insurgency. Now that we have reached this stage in the campaign, we feel it is improper to call for its abolition,” Malaya said, again claiming the government is about to defeat the New People’s Army (NPA).

Año for his part said the NTF-ELCAC “does not encourage red-tagging.”

Sen. Imee Marcos also mocked Khan’s call to abolish the task force as “supremely presumptuous,” belittling the length of time the UN expert spent in her in-country investigations.

“After a mere 10 days in the Philippines, during which she never visited the NTF barangays but only met a chosen few witnesses, she has the knowledge and the right to tell the Philippine government what to do?” Marcos said in a statement.

Ignorant response

Rights group Karapatan however labeled the Senator as ignorant, saying she should be schooled on international human rights mechanisms like the UN and the International Criminal Court.

“They cannot just sign human rights treaties, conventions and go to town saying that we have a ‘vibrant’ democracy, without being held accountable for the Philippine government’s obligations and commitments in this global rights system,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

Palabay pointed out that it was the government that invited Khan into the Philippines and her recommendations must be respected as part of the government’s obligations to the international community.

“What they fail to see is that it is simply game over for the NTF-ELCAC, despite all the lights and sounds show, parties and meetings they put up during SR Khan’s official visit,” Palabay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CPP on AFP’s claim of strategic victory over the NPA: ‘Dream on’

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) dismissed claims by Manila government security officials the New People’s Army (NPA) has already been strategically defeated, describing the declarations are nothing more than dreamland statements.

In a reaction to an online press briefing by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) last Wednesday, the CPP branded as ludicrous government claims that all but 14 “weakened guerilla fronts” of the NPA have been dismantled.

“This is pure wishful thinking on the part of the US-Marcos regime. It is a desperate attempt to fool the people and dampen their spirit of resistance,” the CPP said in a statement.

‘Zero active guerilla fronts’

In the briefing, NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres Jr. said there are “zero active guerrilla fronts” and only 14 weakened units of the NPA remain. NTF-ELCAC said six guerilla fronts had recently been dismantled.

Torres did not identify the locations of the so-called remaining fronts but said it is Manila government’s priority to dismantle them to help in local peace talks engagements.

National Security Council (NSC) assistant director general Jonathan Malaya in the same briefing alleged the NPA is at its weakest in its 55-year history with less than 1,500 fighters remaining nationwide.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in a New Year statement also boasted there are no longer active NPA fronts, reporting killing 67 leaders and 1,399 members as well as seizing 1,751 firearms throughout 2023.

The CPP however said the AFP, NSC and the NTF-ELCAC presented no proof in their self-congratulatory claims, saying in turn that majority of the guerilla fronts across 14 regional NPA commands are “far from dismantled.”

CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said the NPA’s current strength remains deep and the wide mass support it enjoys is far from what the AFP wishes to imagine.

‘Why the increased AFP budget then?’

Valbuena admitted the NPA suffered grave losses from 2019 to 2022 due to internal weaknesses and errors as well as sustained military operations by close to 100,000 AFP troops since 2017.

“Squandering hundreds of billions of pesos, the reactionary armed forces have unleashed unimaginable state terrorist violence in the countryside,” Valbuena said.

But claims of strategic victory over the NPA are belied by the Marcos government’s increased military budget by almost 40% this year, Valbuena said, citing AFP’s ₱282.7 billion budget from last year’s ₱203.4 billion.

Valbuena said that a large part of the military’s funds go to the purchase and maintenance of US-supplied jet fighters and drones used in aerial bombing, artillery shelling and full-scale military operations in the countryside.

The CPP officer also said that a vast majority of AFP battalions remain deployed against the NPA despite announcements of wanting to shift to external defense against Chinese encroachment into Philippine territories.

Valbuena further said AFP’s claims of victories in the battlefield come at the expense of farmers and indigenous peoples’ communities who suffer de facto martial rule in the guise of “community support operations.”

“The AFP hinder the free movement of people, imposing curfew and prohibiting them from working in their fields, destroying their organizations, and other forms of suppression, in order to pave the way for the aggressive entry of mining operations, expansion of plantations, ecotourism and infrastructure projects,” he said.

“Fascist troops continue to carry out a campaign of state terrorism against the peasant masses, carrying out killings of civilians and covering up their crimes by claiming their victims to be NPA fighters,” Valbuena added.

Women NPA fighters at CPP’s 55th founding anniversary celebrations last December 26. (CPP photo)

‘Masses want their Red fighters back’

The CPP said in areas temporarily abandoned by NPA units due to intense military operations, the people wait for the return of the Red guerillas.

The Party said affected NPA units are determined to recover strength, rebuild their mass bases, and continue to wage armed revolution.

It added that the NPA has in fact started regaining its bearings since last year and have carried out maneuvers to frustrate AFP’s encirclement and focused military operations.

With the CPP’s third rectification movement launched on its 55th founding anniversary last December 26, it said the NPA shall soon regain lost territories and expand to new areas.

The CPP’s Central Committee also laid down several tasks the NPA should accomplish to recover strength, including the building of company-sized units for each guerrilla front and to launch basic or annihilative tactical military offensives that have a high percentage of succeeding.

Since December, CPP newsletter Ang Bayan has published reports of NPA operations that resulted in the killing of three Philippine Army troopers in Panay Island last December 9 and 10 and a paramilitary spy in Negros Island last December 27.

“The Red commanders and fighters of the NPA, and cadres of the Party are all determined to carry forward the people’s war as long as it takes until complete victory is attained,” the CPP said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)