CAMP AGUINALDO, Quezon City — Proud of its accomplishments in its campaign against the local communist insurgency, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has announced that only
one 'weakened' New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla front remains active in the country.

According to AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla, counting its dwindling forces and capabilities, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)'s armed wing is no longer capable of “staging major operations.”

“From the start of the year, we started with seven weakened guerilla fronts. Now we’re down to one and we’re well within targets,” Padilla disclosed.

“As they have already been weakened, they are no longer capable of staging major operations. They also have a leadership vacuum, and they are not capable of recruiting additional personnel to their ranks,” she added.

The AFP spokesperson spelled out that 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.

However, although the CPP-NPA has already shown significant weakness, National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) executive director Ernesto Torres Jr. clarified that AFP troops are maintaining their presence in areas where armed groups are still detected.

Since its founding on March 29, 1969, the NPA has carried out the world’s longest-running Maoist insurgency.

In February, Padilla said it has always been the national government’s goal to end the country’s internal insurgency problem this year and transition to external defense in line with President Marcos Jr. 's 'Bagong Pilipinas' movement.