Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said on Monday the remaining number of active New People’s Army (NPA) insurgents is now “a little over 1,500.”
Brawner, in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, also said this is significantly lower than the estimated 25,000 active NPA fighters from the late 1980s up to early 1990s.
Asked if the AFP is capable of ending the insurgency threat within the year, Brawner said the military “will try to do that.”
In December, the AFP announced that it had dismantled eight NPA guerilla fronts in 2023, aside from weakening 14 others in the same year.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. also said while the NPA has “zero active guerilla fronts,” there is a need to continue the counterinsurgency efforts to enhance the country’s internal security.
National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya meanwhile said the government is now in a better position to make demands once the peace talks with the remaining communist rebels and their allies formally start.
In a radio interview, Malaya also said the government has “leverage” to do this amid the NPA’s weakened state due to focused military operations and dwindling mass base support.
“I have many friends who are travelling to Quezon, to the Bondoc Peninsula, which used to be an area infested by the NPA. Now you see them on Facebook, they are at the beaches in these areas. This shows our country, we have achieved victory and we are enjoying the fruits of the victory of the government against the communists),” he added.
Asked why the government still pushes for peace talks with the NPA, Malaya said this is to “speed up” efforts to achieve peace.
“If we can spare one life, we can prevent more violence. In the history of conflicts around the world, oftentimes there is what we call political settlement. Our government sees the Oslo Communique, the
talks for a political settlement, this might speed up the process to achieve genuine peace,” Malaya said.
In November last year, the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) political wing, the National Democratic Front (NDF), agreed to a “principled and peaceful resolution of the armed conflict” through the Oslo communique.
Malaya also raised alarm over the CPP’s 55th anniversary statement on Dec. 26 last year, which called for a rectification movement, instructing its members to “stir up and spread the flames of the people’s war.”
“Kung magko-collapse man ang (In case of a collapse) of) peace talks o exploratory talks, it will not be the fault of the government, it will be the fault of the CPP-NPA-NDF,” Malaya said, stressing that this is due to the insurgents’ lack of sincerity.
Over the weekend, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. noted that there are no active guerrilla fronts in the country as of December last year.
He noted that in 2023, around 1,398 members of communist and local terrorist groups were neutralized and some 1,751 firearms were seized.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said focused military operations also resulted in the neutralization of 67 high-value individuals of communist and local terrorist groups.