Just two days after Marcos claimed in his 4th “state of the nation address” (SONA) last July 28, that guerrilla groups no longer exist in the country, the brutal Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division, released a statement saying its fascist troops engaged in two consecutive encounters with New People’s Army (NPA) on July 31 in the hinterlands of Barangay San Isidro, Las Navas. in Northern Samar province in the Visayas.
The AFP also dropped several bombs in the early hours of July 31 in the same area in Northern Samar, purportedly against a guerrilla camp of the NPA terrorizing communities. The AFP also conducted an aerial bombardment in Tagkawayan, Quezon province August 2 after an encounter with NPA guerrillas and fascist soldiers of the 2nd Infrantry Division.
Barangays in Las Navas, Northern Samar have since been placed under “lockdown” or “hamletting” – a US counter-guerrilla scheme implemented but miserably failed during the Vietnam war, during the US-Marcos-fascist dictatorship, and in other reactionary US-client regimes to supposedly cut off the guerrillas support from the barrio people. When a village is hamletted, village people are prevented by fascist troops from leaving the village, even to tender their farms and sell their produce. They are also prevented under threat from visiting nearby barrios effectively cutting off their communication outside. Their food supply is strictly controlled.
Moreover, according to several reports, a number of NPA units were engaged in other encounters with the AFP just days after and a few weeks prior to Marcos’ declaration of a “guerrilla-free Philippines,” resulting in casualties. Referring to AFP reports themselves, the CPP said two successive clashes occurred in the hinterland barangays of Gingoog City, province of Misamis Oriental and on July 27, the AFP also reported to have encountered several NPA fighters in Barangay Uson, Masbate province. A few weeks earlier, on July 1, a local NPA unit in Bukidnon reported that seven soldiers were killed in an encounter in Barangay Busdi, Malaybalay City.
Deceitfully claiming the defeat of the New People’s Army, Marcos said: “At sa wakas, wala na ring nalalabing grupong gerilya sa bansa, at titiyakin na ang pamahalaan na wala nang mabubuo muli,” Marcos said. (And finally, there are no more remaining guerrilla groups in the country, and the government will ensure that none will be formed again.)
The CPP in response, strongly refuted this fake claim stressing that Marcos, his Armed Fascists of the Philippines and his NTF-Elcac are only fooling themselves with these farcical claims.
The NPA, which has been reorganized and redeployed to counter the AFP’s encirclement operations continue to expand to new areas and consolidate its mass bases, in order to gain the initiative for waging guerrilla warfare and continue to persevere and enjoy the deep and wide support of the people in the countryside, the CPP emphasized.
“A new generation of young Red fighters continues to slowly rise among workers, peasants and petty-bourgeois intellectuals. With firm determination, Red fighters of the NPA will bring the armed revolution forward. They are guided and inspired by the Party. They are imbued with an indefatigable spirit to fight and defeat the enemy, however monstrous and oppressive,” the CPP stressed.
Marcos’ claim was so fantastic that even a mainstream media outlet (Philippine Star) fact-checked this claim as false. In disputing Marcos’ lie, the media outlet said that the reality on the ground reflects that armed resistance persists.
The Philstar explained that it fact-checked Marcos because he sought the revival of peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which represents the CPP in negotiations, and
signed an agreement in 2023 aimed at pursuing a peaceful resolution to the armed conflict but that “arrests and killings in military operations against insurgents have continued since then”.
Indeed, according to the most recent CPP field reports, AFP battalions are conducting simultaneous ‘counterinsurgency’ operations in the northwestern provinces of Luzon, in Quezon, the Bicol provinces of Camarines Norte, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, in Mindoro island, Negros provinces, Capiz province, Samar island provinces, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Surigao and Agusan provinces, Lanao del Norte and others, placing entire villages under military control.
“The lies and illusions woven by Marcos during his state of the nation cannot obscure the basic fact that the majority of Filipinos remain mired in poverty, and suffer from landlessness and land grabbing, joblessness, very low wages, rising cost of living, homelessness, deteriorating public services and other social ills.
Under Marcos, the three basic problems of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism continue to grow worse and more oppressive. The puppet, fascist and corrupt Marcos regime continues to make the grounds for armed resistance more fertile,” the CPP emphasized.#
