Among others, Ferdinand Marcos Jr boasted in his SONA declaration that “no guerrilla groups remain in the country.” This is an utter lie and outright deception, as the New People’s Army (NPA) and the revolutionary movement continue to thrive and enjoy deep and broad support from the people in the countryside.

According to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), since 2017 when the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) implemented its intensified and brutal extermination campaign, NPA guerrilla units have been reorganized and redeployed to further deepen and widen their roots among the people. The Party said a new generation of young Red fighters steadily rises among workers, peasants, and petty-bourgeois intellectuals.

The NPA’s Red fighters carry forward the armed revolution with even more resolute determination to carry out the rectification movement called for by the Party to strengthen the armed struggle in the countryside.

In addition, Marcos’ own actions directly contradict his statements that no guerrilla groups remain in the country. Despite repeated announcements that the AFP will now focus on “external defense,” majority of its combat battalions remain deployed against the NPA’s guerrilla fronts nationwide. In fact, even the AFP continues to report numerous encounters with NPA units in the provinces in recent months.

Party chief information officer Marco Valbuena said this grand declaration by Marcos will explode in his face. Despite all the lethal firepower the US is providing the Marcos regime, it has failed and will fail to stop the steady regrowth and expansion of the NPA who remain deeply rooted among the people.

“The puppet, fascist and corrupt Marcos regime continues to make the grounds for armed resistance more fertile,” Valbuena said.

Additionally, the CPP said that Marcos’ declaration is tantamount to ending the prospects for talking peace with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

“He and the National Task Force (NTF)-Elcac officials stubbornly refuse to recognize and address the roots of armed conflict,” Valbuena stated.