We can protect press freedom, human rights while also protecting vulnerable communities from CPP-NPA-NDF abuse

23 June 2026

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict acknowledges the final report of Ms. Irene Khan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, and her continuing work to defend press freedom and the right of citizens to speak freely without fear.

While we have yet to receive a copy of the final report, we nonetheless receive her observations with respect. Freedom of expression is not an inconvenience to democracy but one of its strongest foundations.

At the same time, we respectfully submit that the Philippine situation cannot be fairly understood through a single lens, or through narratives that begin and end with claims of repression. The local communist armed conflict is not a debate that affects merely the right to speak freely. For more than five decades, it has been lived painfully by farmers, indigenous peoples, workers, students, teachers, parents, local officials, former rebels, and families whose loved ones were recruited, exploited, threatened, extorted, displaced, or killed.

With this in mind, we encourage Ms. Khan, and all international mechanisms examining the Philippines, to also speak with an open mind to former CPP-NPA-NDF cadres, former members of underground mass organizations, former student and youth organizers, former combatants, indigenous peoples’ leaders, grieving parents, and their communities. Their stories are essential to any honest and comprehensive understanding of the insurgency, especially in grasping how the CPP-NPA-NDF continues to use legal and democratic spaces to agitate, organize, and recruit marginalized and vulnerable communities toward armed violence.

Far from being abstractions in a policy debate, they are Filipinos who lived inside the movement. They understood its structures, carried out its political and organizational work, and later chose to leave because they saw, firsthand, the deception, coercion, violence, and exploitation that sustained it. If the international community is serious about human rights, then the testimonies of those who suffered inside the CPP-NPA-NDF system must be heard with the same seriousness given to those who accuse the State.

This is especially important when laws on terrorism financing and child protection are described as instruments to “weaponize” the law. The enforcement of law against terrorism financing, recruitment, exploitation of minors, extortion, and material support to armed violence is not, by itself, the weaponization of law. It is the duty of a democratic State to protect its people. It only becomes a weapon when law is used without evidence, without due process, and without accountability.

But also, accountability cannot be one-sided. When communities seek protection from recruitment and exploitation, the State cannot simply look away. We risk erasing the victims when we carelessly label every prosecution as “persecution.” It can also provide immunity to those who use civic language to support, enable, finance, or normalize armed violence.

The task force fully reiterates that human rights violations are not the policy or program, and certainly not acceptable to the government. Allegations must be addressed through proper mechanisms, and government personnel who violate the law must be held accountable.

However, a complete human rights discussion must also confront the abuses of the CPP-NPA-NDF. We also call attention to the more than 50 killings linked to the CPP-NPA’s practice of spy-tagging in Negros and across the country. These are cases where civilians, former rebels, farmers, indigenous peoples, community leaders, and other ordinary Filipinos were branded as alleged military informants or enemies of the movement, then threatened, punished, or killed. These deaths should not be sidelined because those who speak louder choose to not mention them.

The mandate of NTF-ELCAC is to help end armed conflict by addressing its roots through good governance, inclusive development, community protection, localized peace engagement, reintegration, amnesty, and the strengthening of democratic institutions. We do not wish to silence dissent, but we do wish to draw the line between legitimate criticism and the exploitation of grievances to justify violence.

We welcome engagement with the United Nations, civil society, media organizations, churches, schools, and all sectors willing to pursue truth in good faith. NTF-ELCAC remains committed to the work of peacebuilding based on truth, justice, and the courage to listen even to voices that complicate familiar narratives. The Philippines can protect press freedom and human rights while also protecting communities from terrorism, recruitment, and exploitation.

Usec. Ernesto C. Torres Jr.

Executive Director, NTF‑ELCAC