PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. on Monday said they had received information that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) have been in “complete disarray” following the death last December of self-exiled CPP founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison in The Netherlands.

“Based on [the] information we have been receiving, there is a breakdown of communication among members of the CPP/NPA kaya hindi nila alam kung sino magte-takeover sa kanila,” the top cop told newsmen at Camp Crame.

He added they have been receiving information that CPP chairman Benito Tiamzon would replace Joma, but that could not be realistic since the latter has been declared “missing” along with his wife Wilma, the CPP secretary general since August last year.

Just the same, Azurin said that the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are taking advantage of the current CPP-NPA situation to convince more of their members and supporters to yield to authorities and take advantage of a comprehensive government program to help them return to the mainstream of the society and feed their families.

“Except for the big number of former NPA rebels who have surrendered to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), we have not recorded NPA atrocities in the countryside to project an image that they are still a force to reckon with since the demise of Joma Sison,” he said.

The PNP chief said that those who yielded to the NCRPO headed by Major Gen. Jonnel C. Estomo following negotiations with the Metro Manila police force are ex-NPA guerrillas who came from as far as Bicol and Ilocos-Pangasinan regions.

On Monday, Azurin said that the PNP and the AFP have been and will always be “partners for peace and security” and in joint efforts versus insurgency and criminality.

“Over the years, we have been in harmony in securing our fellow Filipinos against threats of violence and armed conflicts, especially in the geographically-isolated and disadvantaged areas,” he said.

“As such, [on] behalf of the men and women of the PNP, I would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to our brothers and sisters in uniform in the military. You have been a vital ally in our quest for peace and security. I look forward [to] more years of dedicated and devoted team-up in our future joint operations. By being side-by-side, may we continue to serve our nation and achieve our common goal – a peaceful and progressive nation,” the top cop said.

Last August 22, the military said it was “verifying” reports that the Tiamzon couple were “killed in a military operation” in the waters off Catbalogan City in Samar.

Reports said that the couple was in a pump boat that exploded at the height of a high-speed chase in the Catbalogan waters.

Reports said that members of the Joint Task Force Trident and the Intelligence Service of the AFP went after the pump boat and tried to ask its captain to stop for an inspection.

However, occupants of the vessel reportedly fired shots at the troops triggering a gunbattle which eventually led to the pump boat explosion. The vessel sunk, and efforts to recover the bodies of the Tiamzon couple and their companions proved futile.

The Tiamzons were arrested by government intelligence agents on March 22, 2014 and detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame. However, they were granted bail in 2016 and participated in the resumption of peace talks between the former Duterte administration and the CPP/NPA/NDF (National Democratic Front).

When the peace talks collapsed in 2017, the couple went into hiding until they were tried “in absentia” and convicted on November 27, 2020 for the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of several Army officers in Quezon province in 1988. Both were sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The two were also the subject of a warrant for 15 counts of murder and murder and frustrated murder issued by different courts in Manila and Northern Samar.

Sison died at the age of 83 in a hospital in Utrecht, Netherlands, last December 16 after going on self-exile in the European country in 1987.