In various public statements and articles, Duterte’s security and defense officials and communication officers repeatedly insinuate that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) are designated international terrorist organizations.

In its website, the Malacañang-mouthpiece Philippine News Agency (PNA) repeatedly claims that the CPP and NPA are “designated terrorist organizations” by “the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.”

As a matter of fact, the “United Nations Security Council Consolidated List” does not include the CPP nor the NPA. The list includes 710 individuals and 305 entities. It includes only the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Rajah Solaiman Movement, as well as 13 affiliated individuals, as among those based in the Philippines.

It should be pointed out that the CPP and NPA are also not included in the most recent updated list of “designated terrorists” of Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom, contrary to the repeated claims of the PNA.

The Party and the NPA have repeatedly declared they are not terrorists. The CPP and NPA are revolutionary organizations that uphold and pursue the Filipino people’s aspiration for national freedom and social justice. Terrorism is anathema to the revolutionary principles of the CPP.

The CPP and NPA, through the NDFP, have declared adherence and have strictly complied with the Geneva Conventions which primarily aim to protect and safeguard the lives of civilians amid the hostilities of the civil war.

As a revolutionary movement representing the interests of the Filipino people, the NDFP, through its Negotiating Panel, also conducts peace negotiations with its counterpart in the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.

Recently, the CPP also heeded the UN Secretary General’s call for a global ceasefire when its Central Committee unilaterally declared a ceasefire from March 25 to April 30, an act which the UN Secretary General acknowledged in a letter to the NDFP.