"Beating a dead horse"

April 4, 2025

On the occasion of the New People's Army's 56th year, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has once again revealed itself as a despotically desperate bureaucratic clique—out of touch with reality, chasing the mirage of an armed revolution despite the Filipino people's resounding rejection. As the nation strides forward, leaving behind decades of communist armed violence, the CPP insists on dragging its few followers back, especially the tired and hungry remnants of the NPA, into a dark, discredited past.

As the self-ascribed vanguard of the insurgency, the CPP still attempts to breathe life into a struggle that has lost all relevance. The NPA has now become nothing more than a fragmented and depleted force—isolated, stripped of political credibility, and militarily inconsequential. Like all desperate despots, the CPP continues beating a dead horse, unable to accept the finality of its decline.

Despite the hollow rhetoric of a “resurgent people’s war,” the NPA has failed to reclaim the trust of the peasant and indigenous people's communities. Laughably, the CPP scapegoats this isolation as the result of the so-called "fascist militarization" of state forces. The truth is, the people no longer welcome them—not out of fear, but out of a deep resolve to preserve the peace and development they have fought hard to achieve. Communities now see government institutions, especially securirty forces, not as adversaries but as partners in progress and stability.

More troubling is the CPP's continued glorification of the suffering and death within the NPA ranks, especially the youth, and framing them as highest acts of patriotism. In truth, they are the bitter outcomes of ideological stubbornness, represented in the toll of lives wasted, families torn apart, and communities left in ruin. These are not sacrifices for the nation, but casualties of the CPP’s own hubris.

In its latest rehashed iteration of an anniversary statement, the CPP has practically admitted that the NTF-ELCAC poses a strategic threat to its operations. Through the help of the NTF-ELCAC, the government is consistently addressing the root causes of conflict: poverty, education gaps, infrastructure, good governance and social services deficits.

This is why it persistently directs its "legal democratic organizations" to parrot the call for the task force's abolition. But if the NTF-ELCAC were instrumental in dismantling the CPP's armed and political infrastructure, why would the government consider dissolving it? The CPP must think the Filipino people cannot wise up to its forked tongue and endless deception.

The CPP is trembling at the sound of the growing rumble of its former members and leaders rejecting more than five decades of broken promises, violence, and exploitation under the guise of revolution. The mass mobilizations held on March 29 by former rebels, supporters, and peasant and Lumad communities across the country not only condemned the CPP-NPA-NDF, but pledged to thwart any attempts to revive the insurgency.

To the remaining members of the NPA: while your CPP leadership allows your so-called comrades in the cities to trade principles for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver, you are left to rot in the mountains, being directed to revive the armed insurgency. It is time for you to reject their hypocrisy and duplicity.

The government is not asking you to surrender your pro-people principles, it is offering an invitation to redirect your purpose. Join peace, and become advocates of development. The government's unity, peace and reconciliation programs remain open. Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration and Amnesty programs are geared towards helping former rebels rebuild their lives, empowered through livelihood and reintegration support that contributes to stronger, safer, and more resilient communities. The outdated ideology of armed violence must be traded for meaningful contributions to national development. Through the whole-of-nation approach, an approach in which you can be an active part of, we are building a future where every Filipino, regardless of past, has a place in our shared progress.

As the CPP clings to anniversaries steeped in blood and division, the Filipino people celebrate the triumphs of peace, unity, and hope. The so-called armed revolution is over. The real struggle now is for peace, and that is a fight worth winning.

Undersecretary Ernesto C Torres Jr

Executive Director

NTF ELCAC