 |
| New People's Army (NPA) |
By Alexis Romero
MANILA, Philippines — The strength of the New People's Army (NPA) has grown to about 5,000 as communist rebels took advantage of the issues hounding the peace talks to recruit new members, a Cabinet official said on Monday.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he has received reports stating that there has been a "surge" in recruitment by the NPA, the armed component of the communist movement.
"According to the Armed Forces, perhaps there are about 5,000 armed component all over the country," Lorenzana said at a press briefing at Malacañan.
Lorenzana's statement contradicted the claim of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which earlier claimed that NPA has about 3,700 members.
"When the ceasefire was declared, there was a surge in recruitment. That's what we heard from our people on the ground," the defense chief said.
Read the full story at PhilStar