MANILA — National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto C. Torres Jr. said the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed wing New People’s Army, and its allied organizations have failed to deliver on their promises after 57 years of armed rebellion.

In a statement, Torres said the CPP-NPA-NDF should “admit failure and defeat,” arguing that its violent strategy to seize political power has collapsed and produced no tangible gains for the Filipino people.

He said the movement failed to establish a “liberated countryside,” achieve people’s prosperity, or create a just social order, adding that its armed conflict instead led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Filipinos, mostly from poor, rural, and indigenous communities.

Torres described the CPP as an organization “frozen in time,” saying its ideology and methods are relics of the Cold War era and no longer resonate with the public. He added that what the group presents as strength today consists mainly of rhetoric and sporadic violent acts that further weaken its position.

He also rejected claims by the CPP that NTF-ELCAC is a “failed project,” saying the task force exists to counter insurgency through governance, development, and security.

“NTF-ELCAC exists because insurgency—especially one that mutates into terrorism—does not end by wishful thinking or press releases. It is countered through sustained governance, development, and security,” Torres said.

Torres said calls for the dismantling of NTF-ELCAC are “comical,” noting that a group that advocates “protracted war” has no standing to demand the dissolution of democratic institutions.

He added that NTF-ELCAC does not hoard funds, saying resources are released to local governments for projects such as roads, schools, health facilities, water systems, and electrification in communities formerly affected by insurgency.

“Development is the CPP’s greatest enemy,” Torres said, adding that communities freed from CPP-NPA influence have seen children return to school, farmers freed from revolutionary taxation, and local officials able to govern without fear.

Torres also dismissed accusations of repression, foreign puppetry, and conspiracy as recycled Cold War rhetoric, saying defense partnerships are decisions of a sovereign and elected government.

He said indicators such as shrinking areas of influence, aging cadres, declining support, and increasing surrenders show the weakening of the communist movement.

After 57 years, Torres said the CPP’s armed struggle has devolved into criminal armed conflict and terrorism that has failed to gain public support.

“While government builds, heals, and governs, the CPP offers only echoes of a past that no longer commands belief,” he said, adding that this explains why NTF-ELCAC remains necessary.