NPA now ‘leaderless,’ down to 1 ‘weakened’ guerrilla front – NSC

THE NEW People’s Army (NPA) is now “leaderless” and only has one remaining “weakened’ guerrilla front that is expected to be dismantled within the year, the National Security Council (NSC) said Wednesday.

In a panel discussion hosted by the Presidential Communications Office, NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), is now “at its lowest point in its more than 50 years of reign of terror in the countryside.”

“Actually, leaderless sila ngayon kasi ‘yung buong Central Committee, ang dami na doon ang na-ano, na-neutralize natin (They are leaderless now because the entire Central Committee, we have neutralized many of them),” Malaya said.

“So, it's actually a leaderless organization. Ang nagpapatakbo sa kaniya, ‘yung mga small unit commanders na lamang (The only ones running it are the small unit commanders),” he added.

Malaya attributed the CPP-NPA’s apparent defeat to leadership losses following the death of its founder, Jose Maria Sison, and neutralization of key Central Committee members; focused military and police operations; socio-economic investments; and sustained localized peace engagements.

He said the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) anti-terror grooming and radicalization program impeded the NPA’s recruitment efforts in schools and universities.

He added that the NPA did not succeed in reclaiming its lost mass bases because of the NTF-ELCAC’s initiatives, intensified military and police operations, legal and financial restrictions, socio-economic projects, and amnesty programs.

Malaya touted the “98.88 percent” accomplishment rate in dismantling the NPA’s guerilla fronts, adding that the rebels could no longer be considered a threat to the peaceful conduct of the May 2025 mid-term elections.

“There is now only one remaining weakened guerilla front in the province of Camarines Sur. Ang nakakalungkot, taga-doon pa ako (It’s sad that I’m from there). And this remaining weakened GF will be dismantled within the year,” he said.

“At present, there are only 1,050 remaining NPA armed members scattered and isolated in some parts of the country. When NTF-ELCAC was organized, 89 po lahat iyan, (they are 89), 89 guerilla fronts. And now, we are at one weakened guerilla front,” Malaya added.

While there is only one NPA guerilla front in the country, it is “very challenging” to dismantle the group because it is “constantly evading [the] troops," Armed Forces of the Philippines Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Jimmy Larida said.

Larida, however, remained optimistic that the remaining guerrilla front would be dismantled by March. (Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos)