The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) urged its members and supporters to “enthusiastically celebrate” the New People’s Army’s (NPA) 57th founding anniversary today, pointing that the government yet again failed in its pledge to eliminate the revolutionary guerrilla force.
In its traditional March 29 statement, the CPP’s top leadership said the NPA continues to strengthen in the countryside, defying President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to government armed forces for annihilation of the Red guerillas.
READ FULL STATEMENT HERE: Ang Bayan
“It (the NPA) is constantly conducting mass work and expanding guerrilla zones. It is recruiting and training new Red fighters to take on ever-increasing political and military roles,” the CPP said.
Marcos’ declaration in his latest State of the Nation Address last July that “there are no more guerrilla groups” in the country was “a huge blunder,” the underground party chided, adding that the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) repeated guarantees of annihilation is turning out to be “a huge lie.”
“Another year has passed without them achieving their stated goal. In various parts of the country, NPA guerrilla units continue to fight,” the CPP said.
Just this month, CPP’s official newsletter Ang Bayan (The People) reported that the NPA in Mindoro island foiled an attack by the 203rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army last March 23. NPA’s Lucio de Guzman Command spokesperson Madaay Gasic said the Red fighters’ successful defense “disproved the [Philippine Army’s] lies that no people’s army remain in the island of Mindoro.”
Ang Bayan also reported that the NPA in south-central Negros island under its Romeo Nanta Command punished W.D. Anglo Agri Farm it described as “an abusive agricultural company” in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental last March 8. “The…unit disabled and burned the company’s three tractors, one crane, and one backhoe. The total damage to the paralyzed production equipment was estimated at ₱30–₱40 million,” the newsletter stated.
Founded in Capas, Tarlac in 1969 by CPP founding chairperson Jose Maria Sison from the remnants of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan led by Bernabe Buscayno, the NPA wages the longest-running armed revolution in the world today.
AFP operations proof of NPA’s strength
The CPP said that contrary to its boasts that the NPA has been defeated, the AFP has not relented in deploying small battalions of combat forces from far northern Luzon to southern Mindanao, proving the guerillas’ nationwide presence.
The revolutionary party added that, while the NPA is “small and weak” compared to “the much larger and stronger” government armed forces, the disadvantage had never been an obstacle to the advancement of their armed struggle.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has approximately160,000 active-duty personnel, with plans to gradually increase to between 220,000 and 250,000 within a 10-year program. This is on top of the Philippine National Police’s 236,493 personnel and so-called force multipliers like the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit and paramilitary groups with approximately 60,000 to 70,000 more.
The CPP said the NPA had been successful in countering at least 10 US-directed strategic counterinsurgency plans in the Red army’s 57-year history stretching from the time of the current president’s father. These include Marcos Sr.’s Oplan Nip-in-the-bud (1969–1982) and Oplan Katatagan (1982-1986)as well as Oplan Mamamayan; Corazon Aquino’s Oplan Lambat Bitag I and Oplan Lambat Bitag II (1987-1992); Joseph Estrada’s Oplan Makabayan (1998-2001); Gloria Arroyo’s Oplan Gordian Knot, Oplan Bantay Laya I and Oplan Bantay Laya II (2001-2009); Benigno Aquino II’s Oplan Bayanihan (2010-2016); Rodrigo Duterte’s Oplan Kapayapaan (2017-2019) and Joint Oplan Kapanatagan (2019-2022); and Marcos Jr.’s National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development (2022-ongoing).
“With the broad and deep support of the masses, NPA units have mastered the use of guerrilla tactics in order to gradually expand and strengthen.
Always holding the initiative and acting quickly, the NPA guerrilla units were able to target the weaker and isolated parts of the enemy, and seize his weapons,” the CPP said.
Setbacks, recoveries
In its statement this year, the CPP again admitted both minor and major setbacks by the NPA, including its loss of an NPA commander in Central Visayas, Reynalde Erecre. The CPP Central Committee said “Ka (Comrade) Amek” was captured alive by the 94th Infantry Battalion after an armed clash but later riddled with bullets “beyond recognition.”
The CPP, however, said the NPA is able to move forward from such losses, especially under the Party’s ongoing third rectification movement to combat “internal weaknesses.”
Since the rectification process’ launch in late 2023, the CPP said the NPA has made necessary changes in the methods of guerrilla action, “with the aim of tightening the ties and unity between the people’s army and the masses, expanding and strengthening the NPA.”
The underground party said the NPA keeps its enemies enemy blind and deaf, frustrating large-scale operations of destruction while retaliating with unexpected military actions of its own. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)