Philippine leftist guerrilla group vows to strengthen fighters

The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA- NDF) vowed on Monday to increase its fighters to 25,000 and its guerrilla fronts to 180. Luis Jalandoni, chief international representative of the NDF National Executive Committee, said in a statement on the CPP-NPA- NDF website that currently, their revolutionary forces led by the CPP are active in 70 out of the total 81 provinces in the Philippines. He claimed that the NPA, the armed wing of the CPP-NDF, is operating in more than 110 guerrilla fronts, each front equivalent to a platoon up to a company of Red fighters. "The NPA seeks to increase its Red fighters to 25,000 and its guerrilla fronts to 180. The organs of political power and the mass organizations are strengthening themselves and seek to cover more people by the millions through direct organizing and by united front work," said Jalandoni. The CPP-NPA-NDF has been waging war against the Philippine government for over four decades. Peace talks between the Aquino administration and the NDF, the political wing of the CPP-NPA, collapsed in February this year. The Philippine government said that it would no longer resume the formal peace negotiation with the leftist group since it has been going nowhere for the last 27 years. A new approach is now being developed to handle the leftist insurgency.