Cauayan: A ranking government task force official on Wednesday criticized the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) for allegedly romanticizing the deaths of five New People's Army (NPA) members during a recent clash with the military.

According to Philippines News Agency, Undersecretary Ernesto Torres, executive director of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), expressed that romanticizing the deaths of the five individuals reduces "human tragedy into revolutionary propaganda." In a statement, Torres emphasized that these individuals were, in fact, victims of the CPP-NPA-NDF's longstanding tactics of deception and manipulation, which lead young Filipinos into cycles of radicalization and violence.

The clash occurred on May 16 in Cauayan, Negros Occidental, and among those killed was former student leader Vince Francis Dingding. Torres highlighted the recruitment strategies employed by the group, which target students, workers, peasants, and activists by presenting an illusion of heroism and revolution. He criticized these methods for ultimately stripping recruits of their humanity and reducing them to "expendable assets" and "collateral damage."

Torres further stated that recruits are transformed from young individuals with potential into mere statistics in casualty reports, serving as names in "martyr" narratives. He accused the CPP of moral bankruptcy, contrasting their actions with those of a truly humane movement that mourns loss and seeks to prevent further deaths.

He also underscored the personal impact of these losses, noting that each "martyr" leaves behind a grieving family searching for answers. In his condemnation, Torres asserted that the CPP-NPA-NDF consumed these lives rather than elevating them, pointing out that the movement's promises of liberation have consistently resulted in bloodshed and suffering.