AFP: Any CPP leadership change won’t affect military’s goal to end conflict

Any leadership change in the Communist Party of the Philippines will not change the military's goal of ending armed struggle in the country, an Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson said Tuesday.

“What's important is we deal with the New People’s Army on the ground,” said Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala in response to reports that self-exiled CPP founder Jose Maria Sison had assumed leadership of the group after the arrest of CPP chairman Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma in March.

Sison, who has resided in The Netherlands since 1987, is temporarily directing the CPP, according to a senior intelligence officer who recently spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Zagala said that the military will continue to reach out to the CPP's armed wing, the NPA.

“We want to reach out to their members to return to the mainstream society and give up the hardships of living in the underground movement,” he said.

“We encourage them to join the government in finding a peaceful solution to their problems so they could become productive members of the society. It is the [NPA] members, in the first place, who face danger and risk their lives,” Zagala added.

In March, Sison claimed that the Tiamzons' arrest did not result in a leadership vacuum at the CPP. — BM, GMA News