By Priam Nepomuceno | Philippine News Agency
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday said the death of ranking New People’s Army (NPA) official Martin Colima during a clash with government troops in Borongan City, Eastern Samar will further highlight the growing leadership crisis in the insurgency movement.
“The death of communist terrorist group (CTG) leader Martin Colima in an encounter in Borongan City, Eastern Samar on January 6 exacerbates the leadership vacuum in the CTG,” AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said in a message to the Philippine News Agency.
Colima, also known as “Moki”, is reportedly the Secretary of the Sub-Regional Committee Sesame of the NPA’s Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee.
The NPA leader was killed following an encounter with soldiers at the remote area of Barangay San Gabriel, Borongan City.
“This (Colima’s death) also further erodes their capability to plan and execute atrocities in the province and sends a strong signal to their members to surrender,” Trinidad said.
Meanwhile, AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said the neutralization of ranking NPA leaders like Colima signals the end of the NPA.
“It is leading to that,” he added.
In 2023, the AFP announced that it had dismantled eight NPA guerilla fronts aside from weakening 14 others.
Last year, the military also neutralized 1,399 members of communist and local terrorist groups, seizing 1,751 firearms of the communist movement.
