Gen. Gilbert Gapay, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), expressed confidence Saturday that the New People's Army (NPA) and the five decades-old problem on communist insurgency will be totally crushed before President Duterte finishes his term in 2022.

Gapay made the prediction after he reported that a total of 201 NPA rebels were killed; 264 more were arrested; and 7,615 fighters, militias, propagandists, and underground organization members and supporters have surrendered to authorities since January 2020.

"I can confidently say that we are close to realizing our goal of totally destroying this communist armed threat by 2022," Gapay said.

The military chief noted that their goal of crushing the NPA, the armed component of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which was founded by Jose Maria "Joma" Sison in 1968, will only be realized through the help of the public.

"With operational excellence, organizational efficiency, and the steady support of our people, we can achieve the complete victory we've been aiming for," Gapay said.

Duterte is bent on crushing the communist insurgency before he steps out of office one-and-a-half years from now.

In December 2019, Duterte directed the military and police to eradicate "by all means possible" the threat of the NPA which he considered as the top security concern in the country.

Earlier this month, Duterte refused to declare a holiday truce with the CPP-NPA which he had done in the previous years.

Gapay said this would mean that the military will continue their security operations against the communist groups even during the Yuletide season.

"The NPAs are now in disarray as more of their leaders fall against our concerted efforts. This, paired with the effort of the National Task Force on Ending the Local Communist Armed Conflict to expose their modus of recruiting the youth, further strengthens our position in ending this decades-old problem," he said.