The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has warned the public against what it described as a “deliberate” and “synchronized” social media propaganda drive allegedly being carried out by the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army–National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and allied groups.
NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr. said dozens of interlinked pages and sectoral fronts have been pushing identical narratives, slogans, hashtags, visuals, and calls for action—signs, he said, of central direction rather than spontaneous activism.
“This is neither coincidence nor spontaneity. This is central direction from the party,” Torres said in a statement Saturday, Jan. 3.
“The timing, language, framing, and cadence of these posts portray a party-imposed propaganda line—a textbook maneuver by a movement in decline attempting to manufacture an illusion of relevance and strength in the digital space.”
Torres said the content recycles calls for “armed struggle,” “revolutionary movement,” and “lightning rallies,” targeting students, urban poor communities, and other vulnerable sectors as the group shifts to online platforms amid waning support on the ground.
“The truth is unmistakable: this is the behavior of an organization gasping for its last breath,” he said.
“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 said the campaign aims to stir anger, normalize violence as “activism,” and groom a new generation, but noted that public reaction has turned against the groups.
“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 said.*