Another leader of the leaderless NPA has been killed in battle. This guy was notorious for extorting local famers.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1269953 |
The Philippine Army identified on Friday the rebel killed during a recent clash in Samar province as notorious with multiple warrants of arrest and responsible for extorting local farmers.
The Army’s 802nd Infantry Battalion identified the slain rebel as a former secretary of south Samar 1 front committee, a dismantled unit under the New People's Army Eastern Visayas regional party committee. Known by aliases “Basil,” “Homer” and “Bitoy,” he was described by authorities as a notorious communist terrorist group leader long wanted for a string of violent crimes.
“He was notorious in extortion activities targeting local farmers and residents in the southern part of Samar province. He also has a pending warrant of arrest for multiple attempted murder, murder and frustrated murder cases at the Regional Trial Court, Branch 30 in Basey, Samar,” the Army statement said.
The NPA leader was killed in a clash with soldiers in the mountains of Barangay Cabalagnan, Hinabangan, Samar on Feb. 25, 2026.
Citing reports from villagers about the presence of armed men in the area illegally occupying portions of their farmlands and forcibly extorting a share of their harvests, troops from the 63rd Infantry Battalion were dispatched to verify the information.
Upon arriving at the scene, government forces encountered the armed group, triggering a 20-minute exchange of gunfire.
Recovered from the encounter site were an M16 rifle, a magazine, ammunition and other war materiel believed to have been used in insurgent operations.
Brig. Gen. Pompeyo Jason Almagro, commander of the 802nd Infantry (Peerless) Brigade, ordered hot pursuit operations to track down the remaining members of the group and prevent further threats to nearby communities.
“We have received various reports from the community regarding the presence of these armed CTG (communist terrorist group) members who continue to sow fear among residents. They have been conducting extortion activities against small farmers to sustain themselves in the mountains. We will not allow these kinds of activities to persist,” Almagro said.
Meanwhile, Hinabangan Mayor Clarito Rosal, in a statement, reiterated the local government’s openness to coordinating with former rebels willing to surrender and reintegrate into mainstream society.
He encouraged remaining NPA members to avail themselves of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program and the National Amnesty Program, noting that many former insurgents who chose peace are now leading better live.
He was killed after locals reported the presence of the NPA in the area. The Army has encouraged the remaining NPA to surrender and avail of E-CLIP benefits as well as amnesty. The deadline to apply for the amnesty program is fast approaching.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1269864 |
Government officials in Eastern Visayas have reiterated their call for former members of the New People's Army (NPA) to apply for amnesty, with only two weeks remaining before the March 13 deadline.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Col. Rico Amaro, commander of the Philippine Army’s Joint Task Group Tacloban, said authorities are intensifying efforts to raise awareness about the amnesty program.
“We assure that all surrenderers are treated fairly as part of our peace efforts. We want them and their relatives to be informed of the March 13 deadline. More than the surrender, it is the amnesty that will fully reinstate their civil and political rights,” Amaro said.
Under Proclamation 404 signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Nov. 22, 2023, the deadline for amnesty applications for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People's Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) is set on March 13.
As of January 2026, there are still 117 active NPA members in the region, according to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRRU).
Amaro, who also serves as vice chairperson of the Local Amnesty Board (LAB) Tacloban, said authorities have identified the remaining NPA members and their families.
“We are trying to engage their family members, but many of them have no communication with the NPA remnants, especially since some have been deployed outside their home provinces,” he added.
Nolly Mapili, director of the OPAPRRU’s CPP-NPA-NDF Peace Process Office, said the amnesty process forms part of the government’s localized peace engagement strategy to address the needs of former rebels.
“We have been coordinating with the media so that our rebels can better understand the amnesty program. Misinformation is one reason some NPA remnants hesitate to surrender,” Mapili said.
Bhea Janine Gozo, peace program officer and secretary of LAB-Tacloban, reported that 610 amnesty applications from former NPA members have been received since 2024.
Of the total, 576 applicants are from Leyte province, 13 from Eastern Samar, five each from Northern Samar and Samar provinces, 10 from Biliran, and one from Calabarzon.
While waiting for the approval of their applications, former rebels are issued safe conduct passes (SCPs), Gozo said.
“The SCP is not an amnesty. It grants temporary protection from arrest, detention, or prosecution for offenses covered under the program,” she explained.
According to officials, the SCP allows applicants safe passage and the freedom to complete their amnesty requirements while preparing for reintegration into society.
Meanwhile, an unidentified member of the New People’s Army (NPA) was killed in a clash with soldiers in the mountains of Hinabangan, Samar late Wednesday.
The Philippine Army’s 802nd Infantry Brigade reported on Thursday that the 20-minute firefight took place in upland village of Cabalagnan in Hinabangan town.
“Acting on the tip, government forces immediately launched a strike operation to validate the report and secure the area,” the Philippine Army stated.
An unidentified NPA member was killed during the encounter.
Soldiers recovered an M16 rifle and several rounds of ammunition from the site, military officials said.
The OPAPRRU says there are only 117 rebels in the area. Let's see how those numbers stack up throughout the year.
The NTF-ELCAC has condemned the NPA for spy-tagging. On Facebook they have been releasing wanted posters of former rebels accused of spying .
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1269232 |
A ranking official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Wednesday condemned the New People's Army (NPA) "spy-tagging" spree against civilians in Southern Tagalog, saying this places the lives of these persons at risk.
“This is not harmless online rhetoric. This is organized psychological warfare. When individuals are publicly branded as ‘spies’ or ‘traitors’ without evidence or due process, it places their lives in clear and present danger," NTF-ELCAC executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said in a statement.
He was referring to the "wanted posters" being circulated by the NPA labeling Gerald Mangao, Erick Simogan, and Zena Punada Candelario Segui as “taksil sa bayan” (traitors to the country) and placing a token bounty for information on their whereabouts.
The three are former rebels and members of the Buklod ng Kapayapaan Foundation, the NTF-ELCAC said in a statement sent to the Philippine News Agency.
The materials were posted on the Facebook page “Villagers Point of View 2.0” which authorities have identified as a propaganda portal aligned with the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army–National Democratic Front (CPP–NPA–NDF) network.
Torres described the posters as blatant examples of “spy-tagging”—the deliberate labeling of civilians as informants or enemies of the movement, a practice that has historically preceded harassment, abduction, and execution in areas where armed elements operate.
“We have seen this deadly pattern before. Accuse without proof. Label without process. Eliminate without remorse," Torres said.
The NTF-ELCAC official cited as example the recent killing of Leonora “Leonor” Anguit, a 74-year-old grandmother from Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, who was executed after being accused of being a military informant.
“By the perpetrators’ own admission, she was killed on mere suspicion. No court. No proof. No defense. Just an accusation followed by a bullet,” Torres said.
According to NTF-ELCAC monitoring, 26 civilians were killed in 2025 alone following spy-tagging accusations.
Many of the victims were ordinary citizens —farmers, forest guards, and community members— whose alleged “offense” was speaking against the communist terrorist group or refusing to support its violent agenda. Torres underscored what he called the “bitter irony” behind the practice.
“The same group that loudly invokes human rights, press freedom, and freedom of expression weaponizes these principles to advance its cause, while silencing and eliminating those who dare to reject its ideology. They preach rights publicly but impose death sentences privately. That is a dangerous double standard,” he said.
Torres also recalled the internal purges that scarred communities during campaigns such as Oplan Zombie, Kampanyang Ahos, and Kadena de Amor, which resulted in thousands of suspicion-driven executions.
“Today’s spy-tagging follows the same logic. History warns us what happens when propaganda becomes a trigger for violence,” he added.
By posting “wanted” materials against Mangao, Simogan, and Segui, Torres said those behind the campaign are effectively placing targets on their backs.
“This constitutes a direct threat to their lives. The State cannot ignore this,” he said.
Torres called on law enforcement and security authorities to immediately ensure the safety and protection of the individuals named, and urged civil society, media organizations, faith-based groups, and human rights advocates to denounce "spy-tagging" as a deadly practice.
"Accuse without proof. Label without process. Eliminate without remorse." That sounds much like the red-tagging the government does.
The Army has also urged the CHR to probe NPA killings.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/02/22/chr-urged-to-probe-npa-killings |
The 3rd Infantry Division urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate killings in Negros Island carried out by the New People’s Army (NPA).
The 3rd ID said 28 individuals have been killed in Negros Island since March 2025 for an average of two fatalities per month.
The latest victim was an elderly woman shot outside her home in Barangay Tapi, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, on Feb. 3. She was linked to an encounter between government troops and NPA rebels in Barangay Tapi last April where seven communist rebels were killed.
“We urge the CHR to thoroughly investigate these crimes and help the victims attain rightful justice,” the 3rd ID said.
They said that the perpetrators must be held accountable. “These killings are not isolated incidents but a systematic attacks against ordinary citizens.”
The 3rd ID said victims were non-combatant farmers, peasants, and elderly residents.
“Every life taken by the NPA leaves behind grieving families and traumatized communities, deepening fear while exposing the emptiness of the group’s revolutionary tactics.”
The 3rd ID condemned the attacks and reaffirmed its commitment to protect civilians, uphold the rule of law, and pursue those responsible.
The job of the CHR is to keep the government in line. The job of the Army is to defeat the NPA. Funny that they continue to say the NPA is basically defeated and not a threat and yet innocent people continue to die. Will they ever admit the NPA remains a deadly threat and is not defeated by any means?
It appears the Bangsamoro peace deal is on the verge of collapse. At least one outside observer thinks so.
A peace monitor in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) said that the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is on the brink of collapse as trust is rapidly eroding between them.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Feb. 25, Conflict Climate Action (CCA) said that hope is under siege by alleged betrayals from both sides.
“In less than a year, the old conflict divide between State and non-State actors was upended by a serious divide within the MILF and the government,” said CCA, formerly known as International Alert.
CCA cited unresolved issues on decommissioning, normalization, and multiple postponements of the first parliamentary elections in the region as among the factors that led to instability.
Among the lingering issues that the peace monitor specifically pointed out is the normalization agreement, which has remained in a vegetative state for over a year.
It added that even the decommissioning of combatants and their weapons is effectively comatose after the MILF unilaterally suspended processing last year.
“While this demand merits serious attention from both parties, nowhere in the political settlement does it authorize a unilateral moratorium as a legitimate or acceptable response to this impasse. Embracing this logic resigns both parties to the very real prospect that no exit agreement will be reached within the next decade or more,” the CCA said.
The CCA cited the dismal normalization record and the utter failure of decommissioning, 10 years after the political settlement was signed and six years after the organic law was passed.
This snail-paced process, according to CCA, has allowed new and increasingly sophisticated weapons to flow into the Bangsamoro region.
It specifically cited the recent ambush of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur Mayor Akmad Ampatuan. The CCA suggested that rocket-propelled grenades such as the ones used in the incident should have been among the first arms confiscated under the decommissioning process. “The brazenness of the midday attack was stunning; the weapon used, even more so.”
The CCA, along with Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG), expressed alarm last August over rising clashes between rival armed groups within the MILF and the resurgence and reemergence of violent extremism.
“We traced the rise in violence to the stalled decommissioning process, the large and growing number of illicit weapons in circulation, a political transition in gridlock, and the inability and unwillingness of both parties to acknowledge the structural and institutional flaws in the peace agreement and the fragile peace infrastructure bound to it,” it added.
The CCA cited that there is a perceptible slide towards yet another suspension of the Bangsamoro election, thinly disguised as concerns about electoral process and timing.
“Rather than fostering a legitimate and democratic mandate, a new impasse in the political transition is being engineered by those who wish to continue to reign without the right to rule,” the peace monitor stressed.
CCA emphasized that political legitimacy is not determined by the length of one's rule, but by popular choice at the outset. "Yet the State sacrificed this democratic imperative when it yielded to MILF demands to postpone parliamentary elections in 2022 and 2025.”
Congress has yet to pass another law allowing the holding of the first parliamentary elections in the region this year.
Amid these unresolved issues, the CCA suggested that urgent steps must be taken to restore trust among its stakeholders and rekindle hopes of meaningful change.
It added that the government and MILF should start with identifying and harnessing mediators who can speak the truth to both sides of the implementing panel and the heads of the multiple parties in the process. “The parties should also temper their language, stop finger pointing, and address issues head on, transparently and in good faith.”
This should be no surprise to anyone. Here is my analysis from 2019:
Despite the MNLF surrendering weapons and half of their force entering the PNP and AFP peace was not achieved. The ARMM deteriorated and in 2013 the MNLF captured Zamobanaga and declared the Bangsamoro Republic. Will this be the same fate for the BARMM? Ebrahim Murad says decommissioning is not surrendering.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1162067/milfs-murad-decommissioning-is-not-surrender “We have not given up on our struggle.”“We are not surrendering. Decommissioning is not tantamount to surrendering,” said Ebrahim, who is also Chief Minister of the interim Bangsamoro government.“I would like to emphasize that the decommissioning doesn’t mean we have given up on what we used to fight for,” Ebrahim emphasized.https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2019/09/martial-law-insurgent-free.html
Don't forget the Muslims DO NOT want to be a part of the Philippines. They objected to a provision that called them citizens of the Republic of the Philippines.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/996061/house-oks-bbl-bill-but-senate-introduces-contentious-changes “Most [of the original BBL provisions] were contentious,” said Sen. Ralph Recto who, along with Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, introduced most of the amendments.“[Its] framework to begin with is forming a state, which is unconstitutional, until we adopt a federal form of government,” Recto said.Drilon successfully moved for the inclusion of a provision reiterating “that the Bangsamoro people are citizens of the Republic of the Philippines.” Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the bill sponsor, said this was opposed by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission.Do you understand now? All those Muslims and traitors pushing hard for the BBL are pushing for a sovereign Islamic state. Anything less is unacceptable. They do not want to be citizens of the Philippines. That means these solons in the House from Mindanao are either lying or are misinformed about the intent of the BTC which crafted the original BBL bill.
