The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) issued a stark warning to the public on Saturday, January 5, 2026, regarding a massive and coordinated social media campaign allegedly orchestrated by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
Centralized Online Campaign Exposed
In an official statement, Undersecretary Ernesto C. Torres Jr., the executive director of NTF-ELCAC, detailed what he described as a deliberate and synchronized nationwide propaganda offensive. He stated that over recent months, dozens of interconnected pages and sectoral fronts across the Philippines have been pushing identical narratives, slogans, hashtags, and visuals.
"This is neither coincidence nor spontaneity. This is central direction from the party," Torres asserted. He emphasized that the timing, language, and cadence of these posts reveal a party-imposed propaganda line. According to Torres, this is a classic tactic of a movement in decline, attempting to create an illusion of strength and relevance in the digital world after losing ground in physical communities.
Messaging Aims to Recruit and Incite
The official highlighted that the online messaging recycles explicit ideological calls for "armed struggle," "revolutionary movement," and "lightning rallies." He warned that this content is strategically aimed at vulnerable sectors, including students and urban poor communities, with the apparent goal of grooming a new generation for a cause he claims history has already judged.
"Unable to rebuild support through armed formations that are now fragmented, isolated, and rejected by communities, they have resorted to flooding social-media platforms with rage-bait, distortion, and incitement," Torres pointed out. He characterized the online push as the behavior of an organization "gasping for its last breath."
Public Backlash and Call for Vigilance
Torres noted, however, that the campaign has not gone unchallenged. He claimed that public reactions on the very pages run by these organizations tell a different story.
"Netizens' comments are unforgiving and direct — calling out hypocrisy, recycled lies, the romanticization of violence, and the exploitation of youth and tragedy," he said. He argued that these groups now operate primarily within their own shrinking echo chambers.
The NTF-ELCAC executive director drew a clear line in a democratic society: "Dissent is protected in a democracy. Deception, grooming, and recruitment for political violence are not. They are acts of exploitation—especially when aimed at the youth."
He urged the Filipino public to remain vigilant by:
- Questioning coordinated online outrage.
- Rejecting the romanticization of violence.
- Protecting the youth from online grooming and ideological manipulation.
- Holding organizations accountable for their links to armed violence.
Torres concluded with a firm message: "History has rendered its verdict. The Filipino people have rendered theirs. No amount of digital noise can resurrect a discredited ideology... Peace, progress, and justice will be built by citizens who choose truth, accountability, and democratic engagement over the politics of violence."
