Hi Mr. Bill:

The NPA getting stronger?
I doubt it.

In most cases, the NPA is now more of an extortionist organization--perhaps one of the world's largest. If it can be strictly classified as a Communist insurgent group, then so can the Cosa Nostra. :=)

Yes, it is true that there still are pockets of Maoist insurgency--particularly in
the most depressed areas of the Philippines. And their infrastructure has taken deep roots.

Nonetheless, several parts of the Philippines are growing economically. This is due to the fact that the country has become India's most formidable competitor with regardsto offshoring. And the remittances of Filipino guest workers abroad--Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs in local parlance--are keeping most of the masses from getting restive.

My personal take on the situation is that the NPA insurgency should be treated as similar to diabetes. Manage it well for now with the hope that inevitably something will happen to have it cured.

Continued economic growth will take away the NPA's appeal.

Anyway, the Philippines has a long tradition of rural banditry--both of the social and brigand type. It has also had a long history of failed peasant revolts stretching back to the 17th century.

It is perhaps because of this that the NPA lives on for now.

But unlike in the 1970s and 1980s, it now has very little appeal to today's students. The middle class too is indifferent to the Maoist cause.

Cheers and Belated Happy Thanksgiving.