Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 13) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday claimed that the New Peoples’ Army (NPA) no longer has active guerrilla fronts in the country.
Marcos disclosed that government forces neutralized 1,399 members of extremist groups, and seized 1,751 firearms through capture, confiscation, and surrenders.
“Ngayon maaari na nating i-report na wala ng active NPA guerrilla front as of December of 2023. Kaya patuloy natin ipaglalaban ito,” the chief executive said in a video message.
[Translation: We can now report that there are no more active NPA guerrilla fronts as of December 2023. So, we will continue to fight for this.]
Marcos added that the alleged success against “internal terrorism” can be attributed to the good performance of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police.
“Maganda naman ang performance ng ating AFP, maganda naman ang performance ng ating mga police, at maganda ang koordinasyon ng SND (Secretary of National Defense), ng Department of National Defense, at ng mga intelligence agencies,” he said.
[Translation: The AFP and our police performed well. The Department of National Defense, the secretary of national defense, and our intelligence agencies also had good coordination.]
Last year, Marcos granted amnesty to current and former members of rebel groups who may have committed crimes “in pursuit of their political beliefs.”
