Communism in the Philippines
The communist movement has had multiple periods of popularity and relevance to the national affairs of the country, most notably during the Second World War and the Martial Law Era of the Philippines.
[6][4] Its military arm, the New People's Army, was formed the next year[7] and was headed by Bernabe Buscayno (under the nom de guerre "Commander Dante").
[1] In 1901, Isabelo de los Reyes, an ilustrado, brought back what can be considered the first batch of socialist literature, consisting of writings by Proudhon, Bakunin, Malatesta, Marx and other leftists of the period.
[13] That same year, Cruz and de los Reyes formed the Unión Obrera Democrática (UOD), along with its official organ, La Redencion del Obrero.
Twelve days later on May 12, 1929, the Katipunan ng mga Anakpawis sa Pilipinas (KAP) was formed as a more militant and more progressive labor federation.
[1] The most influential of these was Kalipunang Pambansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KPMP, National Union of Filipino Peasants), founded by Jacinto Manahan, a COF member.
[2] Both the PKP and KAP were declared as illegal organizations by the Manila Court of First Instance (CFI) on September 14, 1931, sentencing twenty communist leaders of eight years and one day of banishment to the provinces.
[3] The concept of a people's militia was conceived by party leaders as early as October 1941, when the PKP convened with other anti-fascist political groups, such as the League for the Defense of Democracy and the Friends of China.
[3] During the Second World War, the top PKP leaders were arrested in Manila by invading Japanese forces, including Abad Santos, Evangelista, and Guillermo Capadocia.
[3] As the Huks quickly gained ground in Central Luzon, the PKP set out to establish Barrio United Defense Corps (BUDC) in Huk-controlled areas.
[3] On March 5, 1943, the Japanese struck the Huk headquarters in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija in a surprise attack, capturing many cadres and guerrillas.
[2] In light of the aftermath of the Cabiao raid, PKP leadership began to adopt a "retreat for defense" policy, reducing the army organization to teams of three to five member groups and avoiding direct confrontation with the enemy.
[2] At the end of the war and the return of American presence in the Philippines, USAFFE guerillas and former PC members forcibly disarmed Huk squadrons while charging other guerrillas of treason, sedition, and subversive activity.
[3] The PKP formed the Democratic Alliance, supporting Osmeña in the 1946 Presidential elections in an effort to defeat Manuel Roxas, who was seen as the lesser of two evils.
[2] Six congressional candidates won, including Taruc, Juan Feleo, and Jesus Lava,[2] but were prevented from taking their oaths in Congress by the Roxas administration, due to their opposition to the Bell Trade Act.
The Hukbalahap was revived as the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB, People's Liberation Army) and launched an insurrection against the Roxas government.
"[22] The HMB launched "dress rehearsals" meant to test the overall capability and public reaction to their plan, but setbacks would result in Lava's arrest alongside other prominent leaders, including Federico Maclang, Ramon Espiritu, Honofre Mangila, Magno Bueno, Federico Bautista, Iluminada Calonge, Angel Baking, and Sammy Rodriguez.
[9] Jesus Lava invited Jose Maria Sison, then a professor in the University of the Philippines and a prominent youth leader, to be a part of the PKP.
[9] The culmination of this split occurred on December 26, 1968, when Sison, using the nom de guerre Amado Guerrero, and twelve others formed the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Abuses under Martial Law pushed peasants in the countryside to join the NPA, while students, workers, Church members, and other sectors supported the CPP and its aims.
Estrangement from the urban middle class,[9] military setbacks,[26] and the capture of leading cadres[7] led to intensified splits within the Party.
[30] Other cadres pushed for a form of popular democracy, or wanted to focus on parliamentary struggle, or to remove the leading role of the CPP in the NPA and the NDFP.
[30] In 1986, the Lumbaya company, led by Conrado Balweg, splintered from the NPA over ideological differences and established the Cordillera People's Liberation Army.
[34] The RPM-P established the Revolutionary Proletarian Army in 1996 and linked itself with the Alex Boncayao Brigade, a split faction of the NPA headed by Nilo de la Cruz.
[7] Peace talks between the Philippine government and the NDFP continued,[41] culminating in the Comprehensive Agreement to Respect Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) in 1998.
[7] Further talks broke down shortly after under the President Joseph Estrada, but intermittently continued under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III, and Rodrigo Duterte.
The RPM-P/RPA-ABB surrendered to the Philippine government in 2000, but peace negotiations remain unfulfilled following a 2007 split in the RPA-ABB leadership between Nilo de la Cruz and Veronica Tabara-Stephen Paduano.
[44] During his time as the UTF's President, Lope K. Santos gave evening classes alongside Hermenegildo Cruz in what was known as a "School of Socialism" to interested unionists.
The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, in its constitution, refers to itself as the "political party of the Filipino working classes based on the principles of scientific Communism and Marxism-Leninism.
The Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino also describes itself as a Marxist-Leninist group that views Philippine society as capitalist, but it retains the option of armed struggle in its program.
