NPA has no more active guerilla front, says AFP

The communist New People's Army no longer has an active guerilla front, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Tuesday.

AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. said that the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines only had 20 "weakened fronts."

"Wala na po tayong active guerrilla fronts,” Brawner told reporters in Malacañang. (There are no more active guerilla fronts.)

“By the end of this year, we are expecting five of these 20 to be finally dissolved. Magiging 15 weakened guerrilla fronts na lang ang matitira,” he said. (There will only be 15 weakened guerilla fronts left.)

The AFP in July said it was shifting its efforts from internal security operations (ISO) to external ones (ESO) after the remaining active guerilla fronts in 2022 were reduced to only one.

Two of the previously active groups were already dismantled and two were weakened.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday granted amnesty to rebels including former members of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the amnesty was granted "to encourage them (rebels) to return to the folds of law”.

• The groups covered by the amnesty under Proclamation Nos. 403, 404, 405 and 406, respectively were: Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB)
• Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF)
• Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)