LUCENA CITY--Communist party spokesperson Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal congratulated the New People’s Army rebels who raided the outpost of government militiamen in Obando, Bulacan on Friday and seized at least 17 high-powered weapons and ammunitions.

“Their successful offensive against the enemy was one shining example for all the Red fighters to emulate across the country,” Rosal said in a mobile phone interview.

He urged communist rebels in more than 100 guerilla fronts all over the country to also stage heightened tactical offensives against government forces and grab more firearms for the growing NPA cadres.

He said the seized arms would help build more fighting units of the NPA in Bulacan and the rest of Central Luzon.

“The revolution needs more arms to raise the level of the protracted people’s war. Every single pistol or piece of ammunition is additional weaponry to the arsenal of the revolution,” Rosal said.

The 7,400-strong NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has been waging a guerrilla campaign in the countryside for nearly four decades.

The rebels pulled out of Norwegian-brokered peace talks with the Philippine government in August 2004 to protest their inclusion in the United States and the European Union lists of terrorist groups.