Fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) conduct a drill during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019 (issued 05 April 2019). According to reports, the fight for communism is still alive in the mountains of the Philippines, with the New People's Army (NPA) celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the movement taking up arms on March 29. The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), is the oldest fighting communist guerrilla force in Asia. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Women fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) conduct a drill during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. The NPA launched its rebellion to create a Maoist state in 1969, emerging out of the global communist movement and finding fertile ground in the impoverished country. Its stronghold is in the south but the movement also has a scattered presence in the central Philippines and a few areas in the north. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) gather during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Jaime “Ka Diego” Padilla (R), spokesperson of the Melito Glor Command of the New People's Army (NPA), and Ka Kathryn (Comrade Kathryn) (L) react during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) rest on the ground at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Jaime “Ka Diego” Padilla (C), spokesperson of the Melito Glor Command of the New People's Army (NPA) raises his fist along side his comrades during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





A fighter of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) smokes a cigarette at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. The rebels have negotiated unsuccessfully with five Filipino presidents before the current leader, Rodrigo Duterte. The NPA had about 60 fighters, nine automatic rifles and 26 single-shot rifles and pistols when it was established in 1969, before gradually growing and expanding. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) conduct a drill during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. Setbacks in battle, surrenders and infighting have weakened the guerrilla group, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the US and remains a major security threat in the Philippines. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) hang a banner during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) conduct a drill during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. The rebellion has left about 40,000 combatants and civilians dead. It has stunted economic development, especially in the countryside, where the military says about 3,500 insurgents are still active. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Ka Kathryn (Comrade Kathryn) (C), one of the fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC), sits with her personal belongings inside a makshift hut at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Jaime “Ka Diego” Padilla, spokesperson of the Melito Glor Command of the New People's Army (NPA) stands in a rebel camp at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. Last year, more than 380 government security personnel were killed in rebel attacks, the NPA said. However, security officials have downplayed the rebel threats as propaganda from a spent force of criminals and terrorists. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)





Jaime “Ka Diego” Padilla (top-C), spokesperson of the Melito Glor Command of the New People's Army (NPA) raises his fist along side his comrades during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. The Philippines’ defence department has said that “for five long decades, the NPA stained our soil with blood, extorted from our hardworking people, harassed our communities, and tore Filipino families apart”. It has vowed the insurgents will become strategically irrelevant by 2022, the year Duterte’s six-year term ends. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)