AS of December last year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. reported on Saturday that there is no active New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla front in the Philippines, thanks to the government’s anti-communist insurgency campaign.
“Let’s also discuss the internal security threats. Our comrades here include our police, our soldiers, and the Department of National Defense,” according to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
Marcos highlighted the government’s commitment to peace and stability, praising the nation’s security forces for their excellent performance.
“Last year, we neutralized 1,399 members of communist and local terrorist groups. We recovered 1,751 firearms through capture, confiscation, recovery, and surrenders. Now, we can report that there are no active NPA guerrilla fronts as of December 2023,” added President Marcos.
Separately this week, the Marcos administration extended a more than 91 million pesos to former rebels and surrenderees as financial assistance under its Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) package administered by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In its year-end report, the DILG stated that a total of 1,119 former rebels, comprising 821 NPA fighters and 298 Militia ng Bayan (MB) members, received financial assistance as of the end of November 2023.
Assistance under the DILG package includes immediate aid to 1,055 beneficiaries, livelihood assistance to 713 recipients, reintegration assistance to 1,074 beneficiaries, and remuneration for the 264 firearms turned over to government forces.
In the last part of 2023, the Philippine government resumed peace talks with the country’s communist rebels, aiming to end decades of civil strife.
Authorities plan to re-engage in exploratory talks with the communist terrorist group.
However, the terror group continues to attack government forces despite their leaders in Norway engaging in peace talks with the state.
