Insurgency: Hero Narrative

The numbers for 2025 are in! 2,018 NPA rebels and supporters were neutralized last year. Let's see how it breaks down. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1266260

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said its units have successfully neutralized 2,018 New People's Army (NPA) and its supporters from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025.

In a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said of the 2,018 communist insurgents and followers neutralized, 1,798 have surrendered, 93 were arrested, and 127 killed in various military operations nationwide.

"A total of 1,134 firearms and 531 anti-personnel mines were either seized or surrendered (during this period)," she added.

Padilla also said a total of 149 NPA encampments were also captured from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 of last year.

Earlier, a ranking official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said they have received reports citing only 780 New People's NPA are left all over the country.

NTF-ELCAC executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., in a media briefing to observe the Dec. 4 7th founding anniversary of the anti-communist body, said this number is relatively small as the communist insurgents numbered about 25,000 at their peak in the 1980s.

"A recent report that we have received (indicate that) there are only 780 NPAs all over the country. That's relatively small because at their peak, they numbered to about 25,000," he added. 

Oh, look at that. The numbers are not broken down so they are worthless. The last estimated number of remaining NPA rebels is 780. Before that it was around 1,000. So that means only 220 actual rebels were neutralized while the rest were supporters.  That means the NPA has a large support base contrary to what the AFP claims. 

The government says the NPA is going online to disseminate propaganda in a desperate push to drum up support. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2162930/govt-warns-of-red-propaganda-drive

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) has warned the public against what it described as a “deliberate” and “synchronized” social media propaganda drive by the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army–National Democratic Front and allied groups.

NTF-Elcac Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr. said dozens of interlinked pages have been pushing identical narratives, slogans, hashtags, visuals and calls for action—signs, he said, of central direction rather than spontaneous activism.

“This is neither coincidence nor spontaneity. This is central direction from the party,” Torres said in a statement on Saturday.

“The timing, language, framing, and cadence of these posts portray a party-imposed propaganda line—a textbook maneuver by a movement in decline attempting to manufacture an illusion of relevance and strength in the digital space.”

Torres said the content recycles calls for “armed struggle,” “revolutionary movement” and “lightning rallies,” targeting students, urban poor communities and other vulnerable sectors as the group shifts to online platforms amid waning support on the ground.

“The truth is unmistakable: this is the behavior of an organization gasping for its last breath,” he said.

“Unable to rebuild support through armed formations that are now fragmented, isolated, and rejected by communities, they have resorted to flooding social-media platforms with rage-bait, distortion, and incitement.”

Torres said the campaign aims to stir anger, normalize violence as “activism” and groom a new generation, but noted that public reaction has turned against the groups.

Ok, it's a propaganda drive on social media.  Which accounts?  Why don't they name the accounts?  This is very frustrating to be told watch out for dangerous propaganda and not be told where it's originating. 

The NTF-ELCAC says a recent clash with the NPA shows how they are grooming students to fight. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1266289

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Tuesday said the series of encounters in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro on New Year’s Day has revealed the New People's Army’s (NPA) terror grooming operations that had insurgents pulling young Filipinos away from school, family, and civilian life, and leading them toward violence and, in some tragic cases, even death.

NTF-ELCAC executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., in a statement, added that this incident has shown how terror-grooming works as terror grooming recruiters exploit the vulnerability, idealism, and grievances of their intended youth targets and feed them romanticized narratives of struggle while concealing the realities of fear, deprivation, and lethal encounters.

“This is how young people are led down a path that ends in violence and loss. What happened in Abra de Ilog shows the real, human cost of that deception," he said.

Torres also claimed that the Jan. 1 clashes in Sitio Mamara, Barangay Cabacao did not occur in a vacuum.

Authorities acted after residents reported intimidation, extortion, and abuses linked to armed NPA elements—conditions that communities had endured for years before finally speaking up.

In the Abra de Ilog clash, a female student turned NPA member was killed during an encounter with government troops.

"Based on information and verification received by authorities on the ground, she had already been drawn into the NPA. This does not lessen the tragedy—it defines it. It is a tragedy of radicalization and recruitment, where a young life is taken from civilian pathways and brought into armed violence," Torres said.

“Communities that lived in fear are now asking the government for protection. That context matters."

Torres also called on parents, educators, faith-based groups, local governments, and civil society to treat the Abra de Ilog incident as a national warning and to work together to prevent further communist recruitment activities.

“Protecting the youth means exposing terror-grooming early, encouraging those deceived into armed groups to return home, and supporting peaceful, lawful pathways to address grievances—without sacrificing our children to violence,” he added. 

Oh wow.  A singular female student means they have a huge grooming network. This same student, likely the same student, is not a hero according her family. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1266439

One of the partner organizations of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Thursday said the family of the slain female New People's Army (NPA) during the Jan. 1 clash in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro rejected attempts by groups supporting the insurgents to portray her as a hero and instead asserted that she was a victim of deception, manipulation, and terror-grooming.

This was conveyed by Hands Off Our Children Movement (HOOCM) Inc. National Secretary Anabelle Sabado who added that the family also expressed alarm over the systematic exploitation of the victim's death by leftist groups.

While the family is grieving, Sabado said they were also angry at what happened to their daughter.

"She was not a revolutionary hero. She was a victim —of manipulation, deceit, and ideological grooming. They demand that these groups stop exploiting her memory,” she said.

Fearing further exploitation, the HOOCM official said the family made the painful decision to have their daughter's remains hastily cremated.

In what they described as a final act of protection and closure, her ashes were later scattered at sea —specifically to prevent any further attempts to politicize or exploit her remains.

Sabado revealed that the family was completely unaware that their daughter had already been designated as general secretary of the Kabataan Party-list —a fact they only learned after her death.

This disclosure, she said, compounded the family’s shock and grief.

Sabado said the victim's radicalization happened with alarming speed. She was reportedly seen attending a rally in September, and by December, she was already in the hinterlands.

The family described this rapid descent as wholly inconsistent with who their daughter was —a devout churchgoer, a kind and gentle person, and a student of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

The family also condemned what they described as intrusive and predatory efforts to extract information, photos, and personal details about their daughter — including an incident involving individuals allegedly posing as medical mission volunteers.

These acts, the family said, were deeply disrespectful and crossed moral boundaries. Sabado said the family is currently preparing an official statement to fully express their side. 

It would help to know more about this person such as her age and what school she attended. But the AFP is short on providing details. Was she "groomed" in college?" What exactly was her path from student to revolutionary? 

A Fil-Am woman was rescued by the AFP after getting caught up in this very same clash. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1266540

The Philippine Army (PA) on Friday lauded the 203rd Infantry Brigade which rescued Thursday afternoon a 24-year-old Filipino-American woman reported missing following the clash between government troops and New People's Army (NPA) remnants in Occidental Mindoro on Jan. 1.

"The PA commends our troops for rescuing 24-year-old Chantal Anicoche who was found hiding in a hole near the encounter site at Sitio Mamara, Barangay Cabacao, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro on Jan. 8," Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala said in a statement.

He said Anicoche's rescue exposes the lies peddled by the communist terrorists and their mouthpieces, who accuse government troops of violating International Law in their legitimate missions.

"Her case clearly unmasks the CTG’s (communist terrorist group) way of exploiting and endangering young people through their deceptive recruitment tactics," Dema-ala said.

In the same clash, a female student-turned NPA rebel was killed.

Militant groups earlier claimed that Anicoche, a graduate of BS Psychology from the University of Maryland, and the fatality were in the hinterlands conducting research among farmers and indigenous people in the area.

Army troopers later transported Anicoche from the mountains to Abra de Ilog, where she was checked by municipal health workers.

Anicoche did not sustain any injuries, except for insect bites.

"Rest assured that we stand committed to neutralizing security threats and ensuring the protection of civilians, regardless of their circumstances," Dema-ala said.

This lady wasn't being groomed our recruited. She was conducting research. Best for all to stay away from those far-flung areas of the Philippines.