The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict on Tuesday said the recruitment of minors and foreign nationals into combat operations signals weakening support for the New People’s Army, calling the practice a sign of “desperation.”

NTF-ELCAC executive director Undersecretary Ernesto C. Torres Jr. issued the statement following an April 19 encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental that left 19 NPA fighters dead, including two American nationals. Authorities also confirmed that two of those killed were minors, aged 16 and 17, while another minor was reported killed in a separate clash in Samar days earlier. “The fact that they are now deploying children and even foreigners into armed encounters exposes the true state of the movement—it is no longer sustained by the Filipino masses,” Torres said.

Torres said the use of minors violates international humanitarian law and Philippine statutes, including Republic Act No. 11188 and Republic Act No. 7610, as well as commitments under the Optional Protocol on children in armed conflict. “These are not just tactical decisions. These are criminal acts. The CPP-NPA-NDF must be made to account for these grave violations of both domestic and international law,” he said, urging families and communities to remain vigilant against recruitment efforts targeting the youth and foreign sympathizers.