CATBALOGAN CITY (September 13, 2025) — The Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division (8ID) scored another significant victory in its campaign against communist insurgents in Eastern Samar, as soldiers recovered a new cache of firearms and war matériel during a follow-up operation on September 11, just days after a deadly clash with New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in Barangay Magtino, Llorente.
Troops from the 63rd Infantry (Innovator) Battalion uncovered the arms stockpile believed to have been hastily abandoned by fleeing remnants of the Sub-Regional Committee (SRC) Sesame, an armed unit under the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee (EVRPC), the NPA’s regional command in the area.
Among the items recovered were an R4A3 assault rifle, an M16 5.56mm rifle, multiple magazines, 158 rounds of live ammunition, and personal belongings. This brings the total haul from operations in the area since September 8 to four high-powered firearms, a .45 caliber pistol, 14 magazines, and nearly 450 rounds of ammunition.
The Army also confirmed that earlier operations dismantled a heavily fortified NPA encampment in the same area, reportedly booby-trapped with internationally banned anti-personnel mines (APMs). The back-to-back blows are seen as a major setback for the EVRPC, which has long operated in the rugged hinterlands of Samar and Leyte.
“These successive operations have gravely degraded the NPA’s capacity to threaten communities or engage our troops in Eastern Samar,” said Major General Adonis Ariel Orio, Commander of the 8th Infantry Division.
“Every firearm we recover means one less weapon that can be used to sow fear and violence.”
Maj. Gen. Orio credited the success to sustained military pressure and growing public cooperation, noting that local residents have increasingly withdrawn support for the armed communist movement.
Decades-Long Insurgency Rooted in Ideology and Inequality
The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has waged a Maoist-inspired guerrilla war since 1969, aiming to overthrow the Philippine government and replace it with a communist state. In regions like Samar and Leyte, the insurgency has taken deep root over the decades, fueled by widespread poverty, landlessness, and a long history of neglect by state institutions.
The EVRPC, one of the oldest and most active regional commands of the NPA, has exploited these grievances, particularly in remote upland communities where government services are scarce. It has maintained pockets of influence in the Samar-Leyte corridor, often using both armed struggle and ideological propaganda to gain footholds.
However, intensified military operations in recent years, combined with the government’s localized peace efforts and reintegration programs, have significantly eroded the NPA’s support base in the region.
The 8ID vowed to maintain its focused military operations in coordination with local government units and civilian stakeholders, as it pushes toward what it calls the “final phase” of neutralizing the armed insurgency in Eastern Visayas. Reports from Ricky Bautista with additional reporting and photos from DPAO/8ID
