Communist Party Of The Philippines
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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP; ) is a
far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...
, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. The CPP has been fighting a guerrilla war against the state since its establishment. Although its ranks initially numbered around 500, the party grew quickly, supposedly due to the declaration and imposition of
martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
by former president and dictator
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...
during his 21-year rule. By the end of Marcos rule in the country, the number of combatants had expanded to include more than 10,000 fighters. In a speech before the
US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
in 1986, President
Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...
accredited the party's rapid growth as being caused by Marcos' attempts to stifle it with the "means by which it grows" with his establishment of martial law, suggesting that other governments view it as a lesson when dealing with communist insurgencies. In 2019, Sison claimed that the number of its members and supporters is growing, despite claims by the Philippine government that the organization is close to being destroyed. The organization remains an underground operation, with its primary goals being to overthrow the
Philippine government The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional repub ...
through armed revolution and remove U.S. influence over the Philippines. It consists of the National Democratic Front, a coalition of other revolutionary organizations in the Philippines with aligning goals; the Kabataang Makabayan, which serves as its youth wing; and the New People's Army, which serves as its armed wing. The CPP claims to be the largest Marxist–Leninist–Maoist formation in the world, with the organization claiming to have 150,000 members, while other sources claim the membership to have peaked at 25,000 members in the late 1980s with membership dwindling ever since. It is designated as a terrorist group by the
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...
together with Sison and its armed wing
New People's Army The New People's Army (; abbreviated NPA or BHB) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeo ...
(NPA) in 2002. The
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
renewed its terrorist designation on the organization in 2019, though a 2009 ruling by the EU's second highest court delisted Sison as a "person supporting terrorism" and reversed a decision by member governments to freeze assets. According to the US'
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
(CIA) World Factbook, the CPP and the NPA aims to destabilize the Philippines' economy and overthrow the national government. Philippine president and Sison's former student
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
declared the group a terrorist organization in 2017, though the CPP-NPA has not yet been legally declared as a terrorist group by Philippine courts.


History

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was reestablished on 26 December 1968, coinciding with the 75th birthday of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
, the
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party The chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会主席, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí) was the party leader, leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The ...
. Amado Guerrero, then a central committee member of Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas or PKP-1930, led the reestablishment of the party. Jose Maria Sison, allegedly the man behind the
nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...
Amado Guerrero, confirmed its birth at Barangay Dulacac in the tri-boundary of Alaminos, Bani and Mabini in the province of
Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...
. This is where the CPP's "Congress of Reestablishment" was held on 26 December 1968, at a hut near the house of the Navarettes, the parents-in-law of Arthur Garcia, one of the CPP founders. Jose Maria Sison is the central figure behind the CPP and its formation. According to Party documents, in the 1960s, a massive leftist unrest called First Quarter Storm occurred in the country to protest against the government policies, graft and corruption and decline of the economy during the presidency of
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...
. The unrest was also inspired by the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
in China, the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and other revolutionary struggles abroad against the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. One of the leaders of this leftist movement was Jose Maria Sison, a founder of Kabataang Makabayan. He was soon recruited to be a member of Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP-1930). During that time the new PKP members, independently from the incumbent PKP members, were conducting clandestine theoretical and political education on
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism () is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the History of communism, communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist gov ...
, with special attention dedicated to workers, peasants and youth. This would eventually lead to a significant split between the PKP members. The new members advocated to resume what they regarded as the unfinished armed revolution against foreign and feudal domination, referring to what was claimed to be legacy and de facto continuation of the
Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...
of 1899, combat subjectivism and opportunism in the history of the old merger party and fight modern revisionism then being promoted by the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. This ideology was the basis for the split from the PKP-1930, the (re)creation of the CPP, and the subsequent "Congress of Reestablishment."


Reestablishment Congress

Irreconcilable differences occurred between the new party members with the leadership of the PKP under Jose Lava. Sison, was tasked by PKP to conduct a review of the party history of the old merger party. However, on his report, leaders of the PKP headed by Jesus Lava disagreed with Sison's findings that criticized the major errors of the PKP which caused the almost total destruction of the revolutionary movement in the 1950s. A sharp division and struggle developed between them in ideological and political issues, Sison and his group led the reestablishment of the party after he and his colleagues bolted out from the PKP. Jesus Lava, the General Secretary of the PKP, was labelled a "counterrevolutionary revisionist", and the new leaders also attacked what they called "the gangster clique" of Pedro Taruc-Sumulong in the old people's army of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), remnant of the
Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a Filipino communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight int ...
in Central Luzon. The Party issued the document of rectification, "Rectify Errors and Rebuild the Party," and promulgated the Programme for a People's Democratic Revolution and the new Party Constitution in its Congress of Reestablishment. The two communist parties deviation was clear ideologically when the Lava's PKP was supporting the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...
whom Sison's group considered revisionist while the latter supported the line of the Chinese Communist Party. The reestablishment was centered on a comprehensive and thoroughgoing criticism and repudiation of modern revisionism and of the leadership of the Lavas in Manila as well as the Taruc-Sumulong grouping which had usurped authority over remnants of the HMB. The party congress was attended by 12 members, namely Jose Maria Sison, Monico Atienza, Rey Casipe, Leoncio Co, Manuel Collantes, Arthur Garcia, Herminihildo Garcia, Ruben Guevara, Art Pangilinan, Nilo Tayag, Fernando Tayag at Ibarra Tubianosa. Jose Luneta was counted as the 13th member. He was elected in the Central Committee in absentia, since he was still in China.


Protracted People's war

Soon after its reestablishment, the Party linked up with the other cadres and commanders of the HMB and engaged them in ideological and political studies, mass work and politico-military training. On 29 March 1969, the
New People's Army The New People's Army (; abbreviated NPA or BHB) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeo ...
was established and on 24 April 1973 the
National Democratic Front (Philippines) The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP; , PDPP) is a coalition of revolutionary social and economic justice organizations, agricultural unions, trade unions, indigenous rights groups, leftist political parties, and other rela ...
. Afterwards, the CPP launched the "protracted people's war" a strategical line developed by Mao Zedong during the phase of
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
of the
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
. The eventual objective is to install a "people's revolutionary government" via a two-stages revolution: National Democratic Revolution followed by a Socialist Revolution. The reestablishment was considered by the party as the First Great Rectification Movement, criticizing the errors of the old party. Despite the arrests of CPP Central Committee members in 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1977, the erstwhile skeletal regional Party organizations gained flesh and muscle from the growth of the armed revolutionary movement and the urban underground.


Second Great Rectification Movement

In the 10th plenum of the CPP, the party engaged in a "second rectification movement" that reviewed and corrected the errors that created havoc on the revolutionary movement for more than a decade since its founding in 1968. Armando Liwanag, chairman of CPP, issued a document called "Reaffirm Our Basic Principles and Carry the Revolution Forward" that repudiated the deviations of leading party cadres in the country that resulted in the gravest setbacks and destruction to the Party and the revolutionary movement, first in one major island and subsequently on a nationwide scale. The document states that these erroneous policies "have caused setbacks through a process of self-constriction and have inflicted unprecedentedly heavy losses in the strength of the Party and the people's army and gross reductions of mass base". The criticism and debates that ensued between the leading party cadres resulted in the expulsion of advocates of "left and right opportunism", notably forming the so-called "rejectionists" and "reaffirmist" factions. The rejectionists took the lines of "strategic counteroffensive", "regularization", and combining military adventurism with insurrectionism from 1980 onward that overlapped with the reaffirmists who uphold the "correct" revolutionary method of people's war. The rectification movement was aimed to defeat the "wrong line" in a comprehensive and thoroughgoing manner and strengthen the party ideologically, politically and organizationally. Thus, the rectification movement came into force in 1992, especially after the Plenum of the Central Committee approved the rectification documents.


Splits and divisions

Not all CPP cadres abided by the "Reaffirm" document penned by Liwanag. Those who affirmed the Maoist orthodoxy were called the "Reaffirmists", or RA, while those who rejected the document were called "Rejectionists" or RJ. In July 1993, the Komiteng Rehiyon ng Manila-Rizal (KRMR), one of the Rejectionists, declared its autonomy from the central leadership: Within a few months, several of the Party's regional formations and bureaus followed suit: Central Mindanao, Western Mindanao, Negros and Central Visayas, the Visayas Commission (VisCom) staff and New People's Army units under its control, the National Peasant Secretariat, the United Front Commission and the Home Bureau and Western Europe committee. The KRMR, VisCom and the Central and Western Mindanao regional committees later merged to form the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa – Pilipinas (RPM-P) in 1998. However, the Mindanao-based cadres later left the RPM-P after a debate regarding the RPM-P's signing of a peace pact with the government then led by Joseph Estrada. Those cadres then formed the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa – Mindanao (RPM-M) which joined the
Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) was a political international established in France in 1938 by Leon Trotsky and his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union and the Communist International (also known as Comintern or the Third Inte ...
in 2003. The KRMR faction led by Filemon Lagman was earlier expelled from the RPM-P due to his "liquidationist" attitude and refusal to help in Party preparations and functions. He then formed the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), however his closest associates, led by Sonny Melencio, bolted to form the legal political party Sosyalistang Partido ng Paggawa (SPP) in 1998. The United Front Commission cadres formed the Partido Proletaryo Demokratiko (PPD) which then merged with Lagman's BMP and Melencio's SPP to give rise to the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino-Pinagsanib (BMP-Pinagsanib). But in 2007 another reported split occurred due to the rift between Lagman and Melencio supporters. In 1997 several cadres from the Central Luzon committee were accused of sowing factionalism and "civilianization" of the NPA units. These cadres earlier supported the "Reaffirm" document by CPP Chairman Armando Liwanag and tried appealing for the Chairman's support. This did not materialize though, and the cadres formed the Marxist–Leninist Party of the Philippines (MLPP) and organized the armed wing Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan (RHB). The MLPP-RHB maintains the national-democratic framework of social analysis by the CPP, although slightly modified. They also maintain the strategy of people's war, but are more akin to Vietnamese and Nepalese revolutionary strategies.


Ideology

The Communist Party of the Philippines, which promotes
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism (MLM) is a term used by some communist groups to emphasize the significance of Maoism as a new stage in Marxism, Marxist theory and practice. Adherents of Marxism–Leninism–Maoism claim it to be a unified, coh ...
(MLM), is a revolutionary proletarian party that looks upon the legacies of past Philippine rebellions and revolutions from the perspective of the theories of
Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
,
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
,
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, and
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
. It assists the progress of theory and practice in the world
proletarian revolution A proletarian revolution or proletariat revolution is a social revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie and change the previous political system. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialist ...
that is guided by Marxism–Leninism–Maoism (''Preamble, Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines, 1968'').


Analysis regarding Philippine society

The CPP adheres to Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its guiding ideology in analyzing and summing up the experience of the party and its creative application to the concrete conditions in the Philippines in fighting US imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. It considers
Maoism Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...
as the highest development of Marxism-Leninism. It considers the Philippine society as semicolonial and semifeudal, the character of the present revolution as national democratic of the new type (led by the proletariat), the motive forces, the targets, the strategy and tactics and the socialist perspective of the Philippine revolution. The CPP-NPA regards three things as central to waging revolution: armed struggle, agrarian revolution, and the building of mass-bases in the countryside.


Ideologies regarding armed struggle

The CPP regards armed struggle as a necessary component of
revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
coinciding with the Party's organizational work. The NPA, as the central agent of armed struggle, serves to achieve its central task of "destroying and dismantling the rule of the enemy and taking their political power". In waging armed revolution, the NPA follows the strategic line of protracted people's war by "encircling the cities from the countryside until conditions are ripe for seizing the cities through a strategic offensive". The NPA identifies three stages in waging armed struggle: strategic defensive, strategic stalemate, and strategic offensive. It regards itself as yet unable to conduct symmetric warfare in the urban centers and thus regards the people's war as being in a stage of strategic defensive moving to a stage of strategic stalemate. During the stage of strategic defensive, the NPA "maintains the initiative in tactical offensives against the strategic military advantage of the enemy", making use of guerrilla tactics to attack targets and defend guerrilla zones, while armed partisans perform special roles in the cities. The second stage is strategic stalemate, where fighting force is more or less equal, while the last stage is that of strategic offensive, where the NPA has developed its strength capable of assaulting military camps and cities.


Five-year plan

In 2022, the CPP leadership, in its 53rd-anniversary statement, boldly called for an advance in the revolutionary struggle and touted its forces to advance in the people's war for a new democracy. It declared its determination to strive within the next five years to make the great advance from the stage of strategic defense to the strategic stalemate, fulfilling all the requirements and without skipping any necessary phase. It also predicted that a revolutionary government would not win the revolution by toppling the current Philippine government. Referring to Maoist military doctrine, the CPP-lead NPA adheres to the three progressive phases of protracted warfare—strategic defensive, strategic stalemate, and strategic offensive. According to the CPP's calculations in the statement, they considered the present revolution to be at an advance sub-stage of strategic defensive.


Legal status


Anti-Subversion Act of 1957

At the time of its inception, the
Government of the Philippines The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is Central government, governed as a unitary state under a presidential system, presidential representativ ...
automatically outlawed the CPP through the Anti-Subversion Act of 1957 (Republic Act No. 1700) which had previously branded the
Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 (PKP-1930), also known as the Philippine Communist Party, is a communist party in the Philippines that was established on November 7, 1930. It uses the aforementioned appellation in order to distinguish i ...
(PKP) and the
Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a Filipino communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight int ...
as an "organized conspiracy" upon its passage on 20 June 1957. As splinter groups which had roots to the PKP, the ban extended to the CPP-NPA.


Repeal of the Anti-Subversion Act of 1957

The Anti-Subversion Act of 1957 was repealed by President
Fidel Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...
in October 1992, decriminalizing membership in the CPP and NPA.


2017 Designation as a terrorist organization

In December 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte issued a proclamation declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), as terrorist organizations. The proclamation was made on the basis of the Human Security Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act, Republic Act No.10168. However, the CPP-NPA has not yet been legally declared as a terrorist group by Philippine courts. The United States and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
have designated the CPP–NPA as "foreign terrorist organizations" in 2002 and 2005, respectively.


Declarations of persona non grata against the CPP-NPA-NDF

On 11 December 2020, the
Department of the Interior and Local Government The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for promoting peace and order, ensuring public safety and strengthening local government capability aimed towards ...
said that 1,546 or 90.1% of the total 1,715
Local Government Unit In the Philippines, local government is divided into three levels: provinces and independent cities, component cities and municipalities, and barangays, all of which are collectively known as local government units (LGUs). In some areas, abo ...
s (LGUs) nationwide have declared the CPP-NPA-NDF
persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...
. Of these 1,546 LGUs, 64 are
provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
, 110 are
cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
, 1,372 are
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
, with the remaining 169 LGUs in various stages of deliberation in their respective provincial, city, and municipal councils. Some 12,474
barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...
s nationwide have also declared the CPP-NPA-NDF unwelcome in their territories. Six of the 17
regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
in the country have reached a 100 percent declaration of persona non grata to the CPP-NPA-NDF, which are
Central Luzon Central Luzon (; ; ; ; ), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines. The region comprises seven provinces: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga (with its capital, San Fernando City serving as the re ...
,
Central Visayas Central Visayas (; or ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. With only two Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three Cities of the Phi ...
, Zamboanga Peninsula, Mimaropa, and
Cordillera Administrative Region The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR; ; ), also known as the Cordillera Region and Cordillera (), is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, situated within the island of Luzon. It is the only Landlocked co ...
. The CPP-NPA responded by claiming that the declarations don't represent the will of the Filipino people, and accused the DILG and AFP of threatening the LGUs and local leaders with arrest and not giving their governments the funds they needed.


Peace process


During the Corazon Aquino presidency

Following the
People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...
that ousted Ferdinand Marcos and allowed Corazon Aquino to assume the presidency, the Philippine government granted amnesty to political prisoners, including top CPP figures like Sison and Buscayno. On March 1986, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines announced its willingness to engage the Philippine government in a dialogue for a ceasefire between the AFP and the NPA. Preliminary talks between the Philippine government and the CPP began on August 1986, culminating in a two-month ceasefire agreement signed on November 27, 1986. Despite preliminary talks, the Philippine government and the NDFP could not agree on the framework of the negotiations, with the NDFP asserting its
belligerent A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meanin ...
status while the Philippine government demanded that the NDFP submit to the Philippine constitution. Negotiations finally broke down following the Mendiola massacre in January 22, 1987, which killed 13 protestors and injuring hundreds, with the NDFP pulling out of peace negotiations. Attempts to resume peace talks began in 1990 when Representative Jose Yap met with Luis Jalandoni in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
to resume bilateral talks between the government and the NDFP. The Aquino presidency would however end with no substantive negotiations.


2007 Arroyo amnesty proclamation

On 5 September 2007, President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...
signed Amnesty Proclamation 1377 for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the
New People's Army The New People's Army (; abbreviated NPA or BHB) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeo ...
(NPA); other communist rebel groups; and their umbrella organization, the National Democratic Front. The amnesty will cover the crime of rebellion and all other crimes "''in pursuit of political beliefs''," but not including crimes against chastity, rape, torture, kidnapping for ransom, use and trafficking of illegal drugs and other crimes for personal ends and violations of international law or convention and protocols "''even if alleged to have been committed in pursuit of political beliefs''." The National Committee on Social Integration (NCSI) will issue a Certificate of Amnesty to qualified applicants. Implementing rules and regulations are being drafted and the decree will be submitted to the
Senate of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of Representatives as the lower house. The ...
and the
House of Representatives of the Philippines The House of Representatives (; '','' thus commonly referred to as ''Kamara'') is the lower house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the Senate of the Philippines as the upper house. The ...
for their concurrence. The proclamation becomes effective only after Congress has concurred.


During the Benigno Aquino III administration

The peace talks between the two sides have been intermittent and inconclusive since 1986, bogging down in 2012 when the government refused to free political prisoners.


During the Duterte administration

Peace talks resumed in August 2016, when Duterte released 19 rebel leaders from jail. However, President Duterte scrapped talks in February 2017, when rebels ambushed an army convoy, breaking a unilateral ceasefire that had held for five months. Both sides returned to the negotiating table on April 1, 2017. In April 2017, peace talks between the National Democratic Front and the Philippine government brokered by
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took place in the
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, hoping to reach a political settlement in twelve months to end the conflict. This was the second time the two sides agreed on a bilateral truce since November 1986. In 2019, the Duterte administration unilaterally declared the end of peace talks between the GRP and the NDFP, focusing instead on their counter-insurgency program ''Oplan Kapanatagan'' and what it terms as a "whole-of-nation" approach.


International relations

It participates in the Maoist International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organizations. It heads the broad revolutionary front organization, the National Democratic Front. The People's Republic of China's (PRC) relations with the CPP have supposedly "been severed since the 1980s," although Chinese underground support systems to the rebellion have surfaced from time to time. The main line of Chinese supporters have officially cut ties with the party since 2000 as the economic use of the party to the Chinese were no longer needed as the party's members have been reduced significantly. According to Stefan Engel in a 2015 interview, Main Coordinator of International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR), CPP is willing to join ICOR.''Stefan Engel Interview mit Komala TV – Thema ICOR''
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video ( German; ICOR membership is being mentioned at about 22:50).


Publications

'' Ang Bayan'' (The People) is the official news publication of the Communist Party of the Philippines. The first issue was published in May 1969 and has been in continuous publication ever since. Currently, ''Ang Bayan'' releases new issues on a bimonthly basis, every 7th and 21st of the month, with special issues. ''Ang Bayan'' is published in Filipino, with English, Waray, Hiligaynon, Bisaya, and Ilocano translations available. The CPP also publishes regional publications written in local languages. These are: * ''Ang Kalihukan'' (The Movement) – Publication of the National Democratic Front in Northern
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
* ''Baringkuas'' (Uprising) – Revolutionary newspaper of the people of
Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley (; ), designated as Region II, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines. Located in the northeastern section of Luzon, it is composed of five Provinces of the Philippines, Philippine provinces: ...
* ''Kahilwayan'' (Liberation) – Official newspaper of the Kabataang Makabayan-
Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...
* ''Kalatas'' (Message) – Official newspaper of the revolutionary people of Southern Tagalog * ''Kalayaan'' (Freedom) – Official newspaper of the Kabataang Makabayan * ''Daba-daba'' (Flame) – Revolutionary mass paper in
Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...
* ''Dangadang'' (Struggle) – Revolutionary newspaper of the people of North-west
Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
* ''Himagsik'' (Revolt) – Revolutionary newspaper of the people of
Central Luzon Central Luzon (; ; ; ; ), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines. The region comprises seven provinces: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga (with its capital, San Fernando City serving as the re ...
* ''Larab'' (Flame) – Revolutionary mass paper in Eastern Visayas * ''Lingkawas'' (Liberation) – Publication of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Northeastern Mindanao * ''Paghimakas'' (Struggle) – Newspaper of the Communist Party of the Philippines in the island of Negros * ''Pakigbisog'' (Struggle) – Publication of the revolutionary people of
Central Visayas Central Visayas (; or ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. With only two Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three Cities of the Phi ...
* ''Silyab'' (Spark) – Published by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army in Bicol The CPP also maintains a theoretical journal, ''Rebolusyon'' (Revolution), to publish articles relating to Marxist-Leninist-Maoist theory and practice, as well as strategy and tactics.


Defunct Publications

Historically, the CPP or its members also published other publications that are now defunct in one way or the other. Most of these were part of the underground press during the Martial Law regime: * ''Balita ng Malayang Pilipinas'' (News of a Free Philippines) – bi-weekly paper published from 1973 * ''Taliba ng Bayan'' – began publication in 1973


See also

*
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism (MLM) is a term used by some communist groups to emphasize the significance of Maoism as a new stage in Marxism, Marxist theory and practice. Adherents of Marxism–Leninism–Maoism claim it to be a unified, coh ...
*
Communism in the Philippines Communism in the Philippines emerged in the first half of the 20th century during the American colonial era of the Philippines. Communism, Communist movements originated in labor unions and peasant groups. The communist movement has had multip ...
* Communist armed conflicts in the Philippines *
Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 (PKP-1930), also known as the Philippine Communist Party, is a communist party in the Philippines that was established on November 7, 1930. It uses the aforementioned appellation in order to distinguish i ...
* Communist Party of India (Maoist) * Communist Ghadar Party of India * Shining Path


References


External links

*
Kilusan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party Of The Philippines Communist militant groups Communist parties in the Philippines International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organizations (International Newsletter) Maoism in the Philippines Maoist parties Anti-capitalist organizations National Democratic Front of the Philippines Political parties established in 1968 Clandestine groups Banned communist parties Rebel groups in the Philippines Communist terrorism Organisations designated as terrorist by the European Union Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States Left-wing militant groups in the Philippines Organizations designated as terrorist by the Philippines Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Far-left politics in Asia