AFP chief says NPA to be irrelevant soon

MANILA, Philippines - On the eve of the anniversary of the New People’s Army (NPA), Armed Forces chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista claimed that the armed group would become irrelevant in less than five years.

Speaking to reporters Driday, Bautista claimed that the NPA has degenerated into bandits who have no ideology.

“After five years, they (NPA) will be irrelevant. They won’t even last for five years,” the military chief said.

“Their focus now is extortion,” he added.

The NPA is celebrating its 45th anniversary Saturday (March 29) without their senior leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, who were arrested last Saturday in Cebu.

Benito is the chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) while his wife Wilma is the group’s secretary-general. Both are facing murder and illegal possession of firearms charges.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), however, claimed that NPA is continuously gaining strength.

The group said the NPA is well on its way to having 10,000 high-powered firearms from nine automatic rifles when it was founded in 1969.

“The strength of thousands of NPA Red fighters spread out in more than 110 guerrilla fronts covering significant portions of 71 provinces is amplified several times over by tens of thousands of people’s militias and hundreds of thousands of the masses’ self-defense forces,” CPP said in a statement.

“The CPP looks forward to the NPA’s rapid expansion to 25,000 fighters and the growth in the number of its guerrilla fronts to 200, covering every rural congressional district. This, as guerrilla warfare advances and more weapons are seized from the enemy.”

The CPP previously claimed that it has about 150,000 cadres or members.

Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Domingo Tutaan Jr. said the NPA anniversary commemorates “45 years of sowing fear against the Filipino people and 45 years of crimes against public order.”

“We as people and as a nation denounce the NPA. Let us therefore have a collective call for the NPA armed group to end armed struggle and for us to have a sustained peace and development,” Tutaan said.

Bautista reiterated his call for the insurgents to abandon the armed struggle and to return to mainstream society.

“I hope they realize that there are other means to achieve their aspirations,” the military chief said.

When asked what he thinks of the group’s future, Tutaan said: “They will have a future if they abandon the armed struggle. If they don’t what future are we talking about?”

The military said the NPA’s strength has dwindled to less than 4,000.