The Philippine Army is pushing to end communist insurgency problems in the country by the end of 2022.
In the second command conference attended by top Army officials, Army commanding general Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner said emphasized the need to bring down all the necessary support to the frontliners in the campaign against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA).
Among them are ensuring mental health, enhance individual soldier’s skills and unit capabilities, and downloading the necessary resources for troops on the ground.
"These thrusts will enable the Philippine Army to attain victory over remaining communist and local terrorist groups by the end of the year and pursue operational excellence," said Brawner.
The NPA has been waging over five decades of armed struggle against the government, the longest in the world.
Based on the latest military intelligence assessment, there are only around 2,000 NPA fighters across the country--from over 25,000 in the 1980s.
The military attributed the dwindling number of the NPA fighters to the arrest and deaths of its top commanders and the aggressive push for localized peace talks that resulted in the surrender of hundreds of NPA and their supporters in the past five years.