THE Armed Forces yesterday mocked the New People’s Army (NPA) as the Communist Party of the Philippines, the NPA’s political arm, marks its 56th foundation anniversary on December 26.
In a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the NPA is already weakened and is no longer capable of staging huge-scale attacks.
“They are no longer capable of staging major operations and they are facing a leadership vacuum and they are not capable of recruiting additional personnel into their ranks,” said Padilla.
“They are really weakened and they are not capable of large operations,” Padilla added.
Latest estimates placed the strength of the NPA at around 1,100, with just one weakened guerrilla front.
Padilla said military operations will not cease during the CPP anniversary which, in the past, has been marked by NPA rebels with attacks against military and civilian targets.
“We will always be ready for any eventualities. Our commanders on the ground, we trust that they are there to know the situations on the ground and they are preparing accordingly,” said Padilla.
Padilla said the military has accomplished a lot in the continuing fight against the communists this year.
“At the start of the year, we started with seven weakened guerilla fronts. Now, we’re down to one and we’re well within target,” the official added.
“We’ll be having our command conference soon and we’ll give you specific details on our accomplishments as well as our milestones within the year. But rest assured that our internal security operations will continue for us to sustain the gains that we have (achieved),” she said.
