According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines 625 rebels and their supporters have been neutralized since the beginning of the year. That is great. But will they break the numbers down to tell us how many actual rebels have been neutralized?
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1274893 |
Government forces have “neutralized” 625 members and supporters of the communist New People's Army (NPA) from Jan. 1 to May 7 this year, according to the military.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the figure includes rebels who surrendered, were arrested, or were killed in military operations.
“From this number, 548 surrendered, 28 were apprehended, 49 were killed in military operations,” Padilla said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
The military also reported that 414 assorted firearms and 105 anti-personnel mines were either seized or surrendered by NPA members and their supporters during the period.
In addition, government troops captured 25 NPA encampments nationwide.
“The data show consistent operational gains, but aside from the numbers, what is important is the gradual return of communities into normalcy and development,” Padilla said.
She added that the figures indicate that more communist insurgents are opting to surrender rather than engage government forces in armed encounters.
Padilla also said the trend reflects how many remaining NPA members are now choosing peace over conflict.
For the whole of 2025, the AFP said 2,018 NPA members and supporters were neutralized nationwide.
Of the total, 1,798 surrendered, 93 were arrested, and 127 were killed in various military operations.
“A total of 1,134 firearms and 531 anti-personnel mines were either seized or surrendered (during this period),” the AFP said.
The military also reported the capture of 149 NPA encampments from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 last year.
No. Of course not. Don't forget that last count of remaining NPA rebels was 780.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1264624 |
From tens of thousands during their heyday, the number of New People's Army (NPA) rebels all over the country has dwindled to less than 1,000, a ranking official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said Thursday, citing a "recent report."
"A recent report that we have received [indicates that] there are only 780 NPAs all over the country," NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said in a media briefing marking the 7th founding anniversary of the task force.
"That's relatively small because at their peak [in the 1980s], they numbered to about 25,000," he added.
Torres did not identify the source of the report nor give additional details regarding its contents. But according to him, these NPA remnants are holed up in the mountains, with some curious about the various programs the government is offering to former rebels.
"That's why we need the support of the media, for us to tell the public in general so that it (programs) would reach 'yung mga kapatid natin na nasa bundok pa (our countrymen who are still in the mountains)," Torres said.
Do you see how saying 625 have been neutralized without breaking the numbers down seems awesome? The casual reader might be tempted to think the NPA is basically dead. But they aren't and the AFP continues to refuse to break down the numbers of actual NPA rebels and supporters who have been neutralized.
Recently a high-ranking NPA rebel has been killed in a clash with the Philippine Army.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1274768 |
A high-ranking New People's Army (NPA) leader was killed in an encounter on Monday morning in Sitio Casting, Barangay Bayan, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur.
The Army's 401st Infantry Brigade (401Bde) identified the slain NPA leader as Edilberto Daval, alias Bong, also known in the underground movement as Alias Waco and Alias Bill.
Daval served as second deputy secretary of the executive committee of the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC) and as commanding officer of the NEMRC's Regional Operations Command (ROC).
Government troops from the 75th Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Special Forces Battalion captured one of Daval's companions, identified as Jaymark Bada Lamela (aliases Miggy and Migz), a security member of ROC, NEMRC. The troops also recovered one Tavor TAR-21 assault rifle and one R4 rifle at the encounter site.
"This development marks the continuing collapse of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) leadership and operational capability of NEMRC," Col. Glenn Joy Aynera, acting commander of 401Bde, said.
Aynera said the neutralization of key NPA personalities will disrupt their remaining network and reflects the effectiveness of sustained military operations with strong community support.
"We continue to call on the remaining CTG members to abandon the armed struggle and return peacefully to the folds of the law while they still have the chance. The government is ready to assist them through various reintegration programs so they can rebuild their lives and reunite with their families," he said.
This death is being cheered on by the local community.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1274831 |
Indigenous people (IP) leaders in Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur praised the Philippine Army for the neutralization of communist New People’s Army (NPA) leader Edilberto Daval, alias Waco.
Daval, identified as the second deputy secretary of the executive committee of the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC) and commanding officer of its Regional Operations Command (ROC), was killed in a clash with government forces in Barangay Bayan, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur on Monday.
The IP leaders described Daval as “a notorious butcher of IP leaders and members,” citing his years of leading harassment, intimidation, and extortion in indigenous communities.
“Daval led the ambush-slaying of Hawudon Jumar Bucales, the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of Lianga, Surigao del Sur, on Oct. 4, 2020,” Datu Rico Maca, the IPMR of San Miguel, said in an interview on Tuesday.
Maca said Bucales was a staunch defender of the ancestral lands and communities of the Manobo tribe against NPA intimidation and extortion.
“Daval also ordered the killing of Datu Rexan Brital, one of our leaders in Barangay Bolhoon, San Miguel, in 2018,” he added.
As head of the ROC, Daval further directed harassment and extortion against IP communities across Surigao del Sur.
“This is justice for the IP in our province, and we are thankful to the Philippine Army for their recent accomplishment,” Maca said.
Another IP leader, Datu Samuel Behing, the IPMR of Sibagat, Agusan del Sur also welcomed the report of Daval’s death.
“The towns of Sibagat and San Miguel, though in separate provinces, are close neighbors, especially our IP communities in far-flung barangays,” Behing said.
He noted that for years, NPA rebels caused destruction, created problems, and blocked government programs intended to benefit isolated IP communities.
“We welcome these developments, especially the success of the Army’s continuing operations, which have led to the neutralization of NPA leaders and members,” Behing said.
He also recalled that NPA rebels killed his father, Datu Boy Behing, then president of the Association of Barangay Captains in Sibagat, in 2009.
“We look forward to the implementation of more development programs and projects in our IP communities as insurgency slows down with the surrender of rebels and the neutralization of their leaders,” he said.
That is a great comfort for them.
A fact-finding mission has revealed that six civilians were killed in the Toboso clash which resulted in the deaths of 19 people.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2229687/6-civilians-among-19-killed-in-negros-clash-says-fact-finding-team |
Six of the 19 people killed in the April 19 encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental, were civilian peasant advocates and organizers, contradicting the military’s claim that all those killed were combatants, members of a National Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission (NFSM) said Friday.
At a press briefing here, Karapatan deputy secretary general Sol Taule identified the six, based on witness testimonies, as RJ Ledesma, Alyssa Alano, Errol Wendel, Maureen Santuyo, Lyle Prijoles, and Kai Sorem.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has maintained that the 19 were killed in a legitimate encounter with members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Taule said more than 100 human rights advocates, Makabayan lawmakers, church workers, and activists joined the fact-finding and solidarity mission conducted on May 14 in Sitio Sinugmawan and Sitio Plaringding in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso.
The mission found a “high probability” that the crime scene had been tampered with and that evidence may have been planted, Taule said.
She added that photos showed some of the victims lying on their backs, while forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun reportedly found gunshot wounds on the backs and sides of several victims.
“There was clearly mishandling of the bodies, including the switching of Errol Wendel’s body with another person,” Taule said.The mission also accused the military of terrorizing farming communities in Negros Occidental following the April 19 incident.
Citing documented eyewitness accounts, Taule said soldiers allegedly occupied civilian homes as military encampments, harassed and intimidated residents under counterinsurgency operations, restricted farming activities, fired indiscriminately near homes, carried out illegal detention, and used a farmer as a human shield.
Taule also claimed members of the fact-finding mission experienced harassment during the investigation.
Delegates reported being followed by a motorcycle rider who allegedly photographed the convoy’s vehicles. During a courtesy call at the Barangay Salamanca hall, around five unidentified individuals were also seen openly taking photos of the delegates, raising concerns over surveillance and intimidation, she said.
Taule further said that Sadie Stone, an American pastor and member of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, had been denied entry into the country after allegedly being blacklisted for participating in “political activities” in 2016.
Stone was supposed to join the mission.
“The mission strongly condemns these deplorable acts, alongside the military’s continued denial of massacring noncombatants,” Taule said.
The group called for accountability from the AFP, an end to militarization in Negros, and justice for the victims of what it referred to as the “Negros 19 massacre.”
Kristina Conti of the National Union of People’s Lawyers said the mission found possible violations of Philippine law and International Humanitarian Law.
“One of these is the killing of civilians. Some of the victims allegedly died not from gunshot wounds alone but from excessive bleeding,” she said.
ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, who joined the mission, said they are calling for justice, an independent investigation, the resumption of peace talks with the NPA, and greater attention to the root causes of the armed conflict.
It seems like the AFP has been less than honest about what happened during the clash.
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