The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) urged the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to lay down their arms, return to mainstream society and contribute to the country’s progress instead of trying to overthrow the government, as the revolutionary group marked its 56th founding anniversary on Thursday, Dec. 26.
AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military remain steadfast in its mission to end the more than five decades long insurgency problem of the country and render the CPP as well as its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) “irrelevant to the nation’s future.”
“Today, the CPP-NPA faces a leadership vacuum, shrinking membership, and diminished operational capabilities. Despite this, the AFP remains vigilant against any attempts to disrupt the lives of law-abiding citizens,” Brawner said.
“We urge the remaining members of the CPP-NPA to abandon their armed struggle, reunite with their families, and contribute to peaceful and progressive communities,” he added.
According to data from the AFP, there remains 1,100 CPP-NPA fighters in the country as of December 2024 but this was a huge reduction from a high of 25,000 in the 1980s.
One “weakened” guerilla front of the NPA continues to operate but the AFP is poised to declare this as “dismantled” soon, according to AFP.
Brawner said the military is collaborating with other government agencies to support those who surrender through the various reintegration programs by the government.
Meanwhile, the CPP said it will strengthen the Party to continue leading the “people’s struggles” against the regime of President Marcos Jr. and the United States’ (US) influence to the country.
“We mark the Party’s 56th anniversary acutely aware how the rapidly worsening international and domestic economic and political crisis is generating conditions favorable for waging revolutionary struggle,” the CPP said in a statement.
It also remembered its founder, the late Jose “Joma” Sison, “whose Marxist-Leninist-Maoist theoretical writings continue to illuminate the revolutionary path of the Filipino people.”
“The new generation of Party cadres and fighters will forever remember and draw inspiration from Ka Joma’s lifelong communist dedication to the proletariat and all oppressed and exploited classes,” the CPP said of Sison, who died on Dec. 16, 2022 after being hospitalized in the Netherlands where he was on a self-imposed exile.
The Department of National Defense (DND) - AFP and the CPP earlier declared that they would not be imposing respective unilateral ceasefire this Yuletide season, contrary to what has been the tradition in the past years.