INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) aims to eliminate 11 remaining New People’s Army (NPA) weakened guerrilla units in the country by the end of this year, according to its spokesperson, Col. Francel Padilla.
Padilla said on Wednesday that it has always been the national government’s goal since January this year to end the country’s internal insurgency problem and transition to external defense in line with the “Bagong Pilipinas” movement.
“We want to end the internal insurgency problem. We want to transition already and focus on external defense. So the timelines given [by the national government] to our commanders is to finish this within the year,” Padilla disclosed in a press conference hosted by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).
“Until the end of the year, we’ll pursue the elimination of all these weakened guerilla fronts that are left,” she added.
In January this year, the number of weakened guerrilla units declined from 13 to 11, as AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr reported.
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Although a weakened guerrilla unit can no longer implement programs such as recruitment and generating resources for the armed struggle, NTF-Elcac executive director Usec. Ernesto Torres Jr. earlier explained that AFP troops are still in areas where the presence of armed groups was detected.
Since its founding on March 29, 1969, the NPA has carried out the world’s longest-running Maoist insurgency.