The Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA) will continue the fight against the national government.
Luis Jalandoni, a senior adviser of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, made the declaration even as the communist insurgency reeled from the death of CPP founder Jose Maria Sison.
"Patuloy yung laban ng sambayanan. Patuloy yung laban ng NPA, CPP at lahat ng revolutionary sa Pilipinas," Jalandoni said on Monday, December 19, during DZRH's Damdaming Bayan.
Jalandoni said that the CPP- NPA central command, and the different unit leaders of the communist insurgency could fill up the void left by Sison.
"Yung kapalit niya, siyempre, maghahanap siguro yung mga different organization, yung Communist Party, maghahanap ng kung sino yung papalit sa kanya. Palagi ganoon naman kapag may lider na nawawala, meron kasunod doon sa kilusan," Jalandoni said.
"Meron naman mga lider sa iba't ibang units ng NPA na pwedeng magbigay ng order at saka sa mismong central committee. Iba't ibang possibility na magkaroon pa rin ng tactical offensives," he added.
CPP confirmed that Sison passed away on Friday, December 16, after two weeks of being confined at a hospital in the Netherlands, where he has been in self-exile since 1987.
The Department of National Defense (DND) considers the death of Sison as 'a symbol of the crumbling hierarchy of the CPP-NPA-NDF'.
"A new era without Jose Maria Sison dawns for the Philippines, and we will all be better for it. The greatest stumbling block of peace for the Philippines is gone; let us now give peace a chance," DND said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Col. Medel Aguilar, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, hopes that the successor of Sison will turn away from armed struggle.
