Revolutionary forces categorically rejected the offer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Task Force (NTF)-Elcac to “surrender” to the government, on the day of the 56th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines. State forces claimed that the revolutionary forces should surrender because they are losing and decimated.

AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr boasted that “determined operations and a whole-of-nation approach” have significantly weakened the revolutionary movement in the Philippines. He added that the New People’s Army (NPA) only holds a “weak guerrilla front.”

In response, CPP information officer Marco Valbuena cited the absurdity of Gen. Brawner’s statement, which was only meant to deceive the public. “If already alone and weak, why is it currently launching relentless focused military operations (FMOs) in no less than 20 provinces?” Valbuena added.

The Marcos regime is clearly just making up numbers. It can be recalled that Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared in December 2023 that the NPA no longer has “active guerrilla fronts” outside of 11 “weak guerrilla fronts” with 1,500 fighters. The AFP meanwhile reported that it has conducted 276 FMOs this year, confiscated 1,141 weapons, and neutralized (captured, surrendered, or killed) 876 alleged NPA members or supporters. Despite this, the NPA allegedly still has 1,111 Red fighters.

Gen. Brawner also claimed that the Party has a “weakened leadership” due to the successive “neutralization” of its leaders. Valbuena said this statement only shows the AFP’s desperation. “The AFP is spending hundreds of millions of pesos on intelligence and combat operations to ‘cut the head’ of the Party.” He said that no amount of the AFP’s assassinations, extrajudicial killings, abductions, or arrests can halt the Party’s leadership in the Philippine revolution.

Currently, the Party’s Central Committee is decisively leading a rectification movement that it launched last year. For the CPP’s 56th anniversary, the Party regional committees, including those in Cagayan Valley, Southern Tagalog, and Negros Island, have also issued their respective statements expressing their readiness to overcome weaknesses and advance the revolution to a higher level.

The Katipunan ng mga Gurong Makabayan, Compatriots, and the Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan also expressed their support for the people’s war and recognized the Party’s leadership in the Philippine revolution in their statements. The three organizations are among the 18 National Democratic Front of the Philippines allied organizations.

The AFP and NTF-Elcac are also spending lavishly on a series of “surrender ceremonies,” participation in amnesty programs, “peace rallies,” and other displays to portray the revolutionary movement as defeated. All they are squandering comes from the people’s taxes.

“The Marcos regime’s national betrayal and complete subservience to US imperialism, alongside rampant corruption, escalating poverty and hunger, and state-sponsored terrorism, make waging revolution even more urgent, just and necessary,” Valbuena added.