MANILA – Three more weakened guerilla fronts of the New People's Army (NPA) have been dismantled, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) reported.
"Right now, we have zero active guerrilla fronts already but we still have 11 weakened guerrilla fronts to totally defeat: five in Luzon, three in the Visayas and another three in Mindanao. But as we speak now, meron ng mga reports (there are reports referring to) the eventual total dismantling of two guerrilla fronts in the Visayas and another one in Mindanao," NTF-ELCAC executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said in a statement released Monday night.
He added they are only waiting for the official validation of the dismantling of these three weakened guerilla fronts before coming out with an official announcement.
Torres also said significant progress had been made this year in terms of neutralizing members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and weakening their ranks.
He added that from January to March this year, approximately 422 NPA members have been neutralized, further diminishing their numbers.
The NTF-ELCAC executive also said three regions, namely Ilocos, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Davao Regions, have been declared insurgency-free.
In addition, the province of Surigao del Norte was recently declared an insurgency-free province on March 15, 2024.
Throughout 2023, a total of 11 guerrilla fronts were dismantled, marking significant progress in the fight against insurgency.
“The Peace, Law Enforcement, Development and Security (PLEDS) Cluster played a crucial role in these accomplishments,” Torres said. (PNA)
