NTF-ELCAC Condemns Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army’s “Spy-Tagging” Killings; Challenges Makabayan Bloc to Denounce Atrocities

November 21, 2025

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) condemns in the strongest terms the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army’s brutal practice of “spy-tagging”—a death sentence imposed without truth, trial, or humanity, carried out by the NPA against unarmed civilians and condoned by their legal front organizations that refuse to speak against these atrocities.

The latest killings in Negros, where at least 15 farmers, barangay leaders, and ordinary residents have been executed since early 2024, reveal a familiar pattern of communist terror: accuse, isolate, and kill. These victims were not combatants. They were fathers, mothers, workers, youth, and community members whose only “crime” was being branded—without evidence—as “military assets” by a terrorist organization desperate to control communities through fear.

These murders are part of a long, bloody history of CPP–NPA purges. For decades, the group has executed both members and civilians through the same culture of paranoia: Kampanyang Ahos, Operation Missing Link, Project Olympia, Oplan Zombie, and Kadena de Amor. In these campaigns, thousands were tortured or killed after being arbitrarily tagged as spies. The recent killings in Negros follow the same script. Anyone can be accused. Everyone is vulnerable. No one is spared.

“Spy-tagging” remains the CPP–NPA’s most convenient weapon for silencing dissent and maintaining dominance over communities that have long rejected their ideology of violence.

NTF-ELCAC stresses that there is nothing revolutionary about murdering unarmed civilians. These killings are not “acts of resistance”—they are acts of terrorism. They violate human rights, weaponize fear, and undermine the rule of law. Yet despite the bloodshed, not a single leftist legislator or organization aligned with the revolutionary movement has condemned the murders.

The Task Force dares the Makabayan bloc and enablers of the false national democratic (NatDem) revolution—as self-proclaimed defenders of human rights—to denounce the CPP–NPA’s killings in Negros and across the country. Silence is complicity. Their refusal to condemn the execution of farmers, barangay officials, and indigenous peoples exposes the hypocrisy behind their constant calls for justice and human rights.

NTF-ELCAC stands in solidarity with the families of victims and communities terrorized by the CPP–NPA’s “spy-tagging.” These killings must not be normalized nor dismissed as internal matters of a so-called “revolution.” They are crimes against the Filipino people. The Task Force calls on all sectors—local governments, civil society, youth, academe, religious institutions, and media—to speak out against these atrocities. For more than fifty years, the communist movement has used deception, ideological manipulation, and fear to justify murder. It must stop.

The NTF-ELCAC reiterates its call for remaining NPA members to abandon the armed struggle and return to the folds of the law through the government’s reintegration programs. Those who continue to commit crimes will be held accountable. The Filipino people deserve communities free from fear, violence, and the tyranny of “spy-tagging.”

End the lies. Stop the killings. Protect our people.

Undersecretary Ernesto C. Torres Jr.

Executive Director, National Secretariat

National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict