President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Saturday that the communist New People's Army (NPA) has no more active guerrilla fronts in the country.

"In 2023, we neutralized 1,399 members of extremist groups and seized 1,751 firearms, significantly enhancing our internal security," Marcos Jr. said in an Instagram post.

• AFP: Only one active NPA guerrilla front remaining in Philippines

"These accomplishments underscore our steadfast commitment to peace and stability."

In July last year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it was able to whittle the guerrilla fronts to only one.

There were previously 89 NPA guerrilla fronts, the military said.

The NPA is one of the deadliest armed groups in the Philippines but the military estimates its strength is down to about 2,000 members from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s.

Communist rebels have been waging an insurgency in the Philippines since 1968 to overthrow what they call a capitalist system that has created one of Asia's biggest rich-poor divides.

Peace talks to end the conflict -- which the military says has claimed 30,000 lives -- have been held on and off for three decades.

Marcos Jr. said in March last year the battle with communists was "coming to an end". - with reports from Agence France-Presse

• AFP says CPP-NPA's ceasefire declaration 'empty, meaningless'