CPP cites NPA gains, setbacks under Marcos administration

The Communist Party of the Philippines Central Committee admitted that some units of its military arm, the New People’s Army (NPA), suffered losses to government forces last year but claimed that positive developments have outweighed the setbacks.

In a statement on the occasion of the NPA’s 57th anniversary on Sunday, the CPP said the NPA is “firmly regaining its strength and anticipates a resurgence in the coming period,” attributing their gains to the rectification movement in late 2023.

The party also dismissed as “bluster” the declaration of President Marcos last year that there were no more guerrilla groups in the country.

“Another year has passed without them achieving their stated goal. In various parts of the country, NPA guerrilla units continue to fight,” the Central Committee stated.

The CPP said the majority of NPA units have successfully preserved their strength, expanded operational areas, broadened their mass base, recruited new fighters, and executed various tactical offensives and guerrilla actions.

The Central Committee cited the gains of the Apolinario Gatmaitan Command of the Negros Island Regional Operational Command, which has five guerrilla fronts across the region.

It said that since the rectification movement, the revolutionary movement in Negros Island has recorded a 21% increase in its mass base, and since March 2025, NPA units have launched 56 military actions of varying scales, seizing 16 firearms, ammunition, and other war materiel.

“Step by step, adjustments are being made in the mode or method of guerrilla methods, to ensure the tight bond with the masses while raising our ability to evade and outmaneuver the enemy’s heavy presence,” the CPP Central Committee said.

The NPA was formally founded on March 29, 1969, by Jose Maria Sison and Bernabe Buscayno.

In 2017, the Philippine government formally designated the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization through Proclamation No. 374, signed by then-President Rodrigo Duterte on 5 December 2017.