NTF-ELCAC DISMISSES CPP-NPA ‘ROLE’ IN 2025 POLLS

NATIONAL Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) executive director, Undersecretary Ernesto ‘Jun’ Torres, ridiculed the claim of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) that it is still in any position set the ‘rules’ on election campaigning for candidates running in the May 12 midterm polls.

“With what army,” asked the former spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who retired from the Philippine Army as a 3-star general commanding the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) in 2023.

Torres was reacting to the statement of the CPP last January 16 thru its spokesperson, Marco Valbuena, calling on its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) to “advance” the interest of the “people” thru the implementation of the party’s policy on election campaign in places it deemed as ‘guerilla zones, especially in the rural areas.

The CPP reminded that all candidates campaigning in the NPA’s purported controlled areas should first “get in touch” with the local NPA commands. It also reminded the NPA to “strictly enforce standing policies of the people’s democratic government” concerning the conduct of campaigning in rural areas across the country.

Surprisingly, the statement did not give instruction on how much money and other material “support” that NPA units need to impose on candidates, a significant omission from its statements in previous elections.

“But with what army (will the CPP implement its directive),” Torres asked.

“The… NPA has already been reduced to a small number of dispirited, disorganized, and desperate armed bandits, with 88 out of its 89 guerilla fronts dismantled.

“The once-feared armed group now exists as a literal paper tiger, its roar limited to social media and propaganda,” he added.

“The ‘foundation’ of these extortion tactics—their supposed armed might—no longer exists,” Torres stressed.

 “They no longer have significant firepower. And they definitely no longer enjoy the support of the masses, especially in communities that have seen the benefits of government efforts to deliver peace and development.”

At the height of its influence as the country’s biggest terrorist group between the 1980s to early 2000, the NPA can demand hundreds of thousands of pesos in ‘permit to campaign’ (PTC) and ‘permit to win’ (PTW) fees from candidates, including the supply of food such as rice and even assault rifles and ammunition.

However, with the creation of the NTF-ELCAC by President Rodrigo Duterte thru Executive Order (EO) 70 in 2018, the government has taken control of the situation, especially in rural areas that were previously easily infiltrated and manipulated by the NPA’s ‘Armed Propaganda Units’ (SYPs).

The SYPs are mainly composed of brainwashed students from the country’s leading private and state colleges and universities

Torres also revealed that recovered CPP documents disclosed that the party has “already directed” its legal fronts and party-list groups, mainly composed of the ‘Makabayan Bloc,’ to recoup their lost seats in Congress and use the midterm polls to recover lost bases and raise resources to revive the NPA.

“We urge candidates vying for national and local positions to reject the CPP’s hollow assurances and refuse to fall victim to extortion.

“Let us work together to ensure that the upcoming elections are clean, honest, and reflective of the will of the Filipino people,” Torres said.