REBELS NO MORE Around 30 rebel returnees from CPP-NPA take their oath of allegiance to the republic during a ‘Balik Loob’ program in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City. (File photo from INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)
MANILA, Philippines — The New People’s Army (NPA) has no more “active” guerrilla units in the country, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced on Thursday.
“There are no more active guerrilla fronts,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar said during a public briefing.
Aguilar also said the communist armed movement has less than 15 ‘weakened’ guerrilla clusters remaining in the country.
A weakened guerrilla front means it can no longer implement its “programs” like recruitment and generating resources for the armed struggle as opposed to active guerrilla fronts, according to Aguilar.
The government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines had started exploratory talks to address the root of the communist insurgency.
The government also granted amnesty to eligible former NPA rebels.
Established on March 29, 1969, NPA is waging the longest-running Maoist insurgency in the world.