On the occasion of the 56th anniversary of the New People’s Army, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) called on all its Red commanders and fighters to heighten their determination, raise their capabilities, and win greater victories in revitalizing and expanding the mass base and in waging guerrilla warfare against the US-Marcos fascist regime.

According to the CPP, the economic and political crisis continues to intensify, further worsening the moribund semicolonial and semifeudal Philippine society. This has worsened the suffering of the broad masses of the Filipino people. Under the Marcos regime, the number of families in extreme poverty and going hungry had doubled from 3 million to 7.2 million. Joblessness, poor incomes, and inadequate social services have steadily pulled down the quality of life of the vast majority of the Filipino people.

A recent survey revealed that 27.2% of Filipino families, or 7.5 million households, experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months. This is the highest rate since the Duterte government imposed a lockdown in September 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also higher compared to the average rate in 2024 of 20.2%. The Social Weather Station conducted the survey.

“The worsening socioeconomic conditions has sharpened the social inequality between the ruling oligarchs and the broad masses of the people,” according to the CPP. While the vast majority of Filipinos suffer, the largest bureaucrats and bourgeoisie accumulate wealth with help from the Marcos regime. Among them are Enrique Razon, Manuel Villar, and Ramon Ang, whose combined income grew by 108%.

“They and their foreign capitalist partners are the biggest beneficiaries of government contracts and favors,” the CPP stated. Amid this crisis, widespread unrest among the masses continues to grow, along with their organized resistance, it said.

“The deepening economic and political crisis of the ruling system clearly exposes the bankrupt semicolonial and semifeudal system, and the thoroughly rotten neocolonial state,” according to the CPP. It sees no other alternative for the people but “to wage unwavering revolutionary struggles, to overthrow oppressive and exploitative ruling classes and establish the people’s democratic power.”

Thus, “the need to strengthen and expand the New People’s Army and propel the people’s war forward, is ever urgent, just and necessary,” it said.