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The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is “delusional” for saying it will finish off or reduce the current strength of communist rebels in 2018, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said Friday.
“The AFP is delusional in saying that it will finish off the New People’s Army or in AFP chief Rey Guerrero’s reprise, reduce the NPA ‘by half’ in the middle of 2018,” the CPP said in a statement.
Early this week, Guerrero said their 2018 goal is to weaken the communist rebels by half of its 3,700 fighters.
READ: DND hits CPP for ordering comrades to bring down Duterte
The communist party said the AFP chief’s promise was also contrary to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s statement that finishing off the rebels in a year is “far-fetched.”
“Lorenzana himself is delusional in believing that uniting with other anti-Duterte forces makes the CPP ‘bankrupt,’” the CPP said.
“His statement only betrays the AFP and Duterte’s fear of such an alliance. Contrary to what they want to believe, Duterte is bound to outdo the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in becoming the best recruiter for the NPA,” it added.
As the AFP procures more weapons and material, the CPP said its fighters “will strive to seize more of these weapons by launching more and bigger tactical offensives.”
The NPA has also been the target of the extended martial law in Mindanao after the peace talks collapsed and President Rodrigo Duterte tagged them as “terrorist organizations.” /jpv