The Philippines' Communist Rebels: Maoist NPA Guerrillas Continue Their 40-year old Struggle

For nearly 40 years, a Maoist revolt has stubbornly resisted all attempts by the government of the Philippines to eradicate it. Despite the worldwide retreat of Communism, small numbers, poor equipment, and a harsh environment, the NPA has remained defiantly faithful to its ideals. The conflict, while not considered a serious threat to the stability of the Philippines, has nonetheless been responsible for an estimated 40,000 deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of citizens over the past four decades.

The CPP-NPA, as the organization is known, had its roots in the surge in Communist-inspired nationalist movements in Asia following World War II. In the Philippines, the Partido Kommunista ng Pilipinas, or PKP, took advantage of economic and political discontent among peasants in Central Luzon who had fought the Japanese and were known as the Huks. The resulting “Huk Rebellion” was short-lived, only lasting until the mid-1950s, but some Huk sympathizers and fighters would later go on to help form the NPA in the following decade. (Miller, 1993)

Jose Maria Sison and the Birth of the CPP-NPA

The present-day Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was founded in December 1968 by Jose Maria Sison, an itinerant literature instructor, and a small group of student revolutionaries. Sison had ideological differences with the leadership of the original PKP, and thus sought to form a new party, which would engage in an armed struggle according to proper Marxist principles. The NPA was formed in March 1969, and originally consisted of 60 former Huk soldiers and 34 guns. (CPP-NPA website, 2008) The CPP-NPA organization quickly eclipsed the PKP, which gradually dissolved into a small, non-militant political party with a few hundred members and little influence in the country. (Miller, 1993)

Growth of the NPA During the 1970s and '80s

The movement grew steadily during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986), due in large part to peasant unrest over government corruption, poverty, and lack of land reform and development in rural areas. Despite devastating counter-insurgency operation in 1974 and again in 1976-77, by the time Marcos was overthrown by a popular uprising in 1986, the NPA could boast of operating in every province in the Philippines, and controlling up to 20% of the country’s rural villages. Their strength at that time is estimated to have been between 22,000 and 34,000 fighters, with perhaps as many as 500,000 Filipinos considering themselves Communist Party members or sympathizers. (Miller, 1993)

Decline of the CPP-NPA

Marcos’ successor Corazon Aquino was overwhelmingly popular among the Filipino people, and the grassroots support for the NPA’s rebellion quickly diminished. Aquino even offered a place in the country’s new government to the Communists, granting a 60-day cease-fire in 1987 for the purpose of holding negotiations, which eventually ended without an agreement.

Although bolstered somewhat by the unpopularity of current President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and persistent poverty and underdevelopment in rural areas, the CPP-NPA has steadily declined in influence over the past 20 years. A major factor in its decline was a series of brutal purges of suspected government informers and those who disagreed with the party’s leadership, which resulted not only in the deaths of hundreds of the NPA’s experienced leaders, but seriously damaged morale and popular support. (Miller, 1993)

The NPA Today

Operating in rural areas across the islands, the NPA continues to be a headache for the Philippine government, engaging in hit-and-run attacks, extortion, kidnapping, and drug trafficking. (Cronin, 2004) Sison and other senior leaders live in exile in the Netherlands, although a number of leftist political parties within the Philippines act as legal front groups for the movement. In 2002, the CPP-NPA, one of only two Communist rebel groups still fighting in Asia, was designated a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” by both the U.S. and the European Union.

Cronin, Audrey K. (2004) ‘Foreign Terrorist Organizations’. RL32223, 6 February 2004. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Miller, Allen G. (1993) ‘The Communist Insurgency’. In: Dolan, Ronald E., Ed. Philippines: a country study. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress.

The copyright of the article The Philippines' Communist Rebels in International Politics is owned by Benjamin D Kritz. Permission to republish The Philippines' Communist Rebels in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Oct 8, 2008 11:27 PM

Guest :

are the beliefs and the goals of the CPP-NPA before (1974-1989)more attainable than now?

Oct 9, 2008 1:06 AM

Benjamin D Kritz :

My view is that there has not been any period in which the CPP-NPA has had an attainable program, for two reasons: First, history is not on the side of Communist insurgencies in general, unless they have occurred in countries with overwhelming public support for their cause, such as Vietnam. There never has been a sufficient degree of grassroots support for the movement in the Philippines, even at its peak. Second, the organization itself is fatally flawed because of the personalities behind it. Joma Sison, in short, is no Ho Chi Minh, not by a long shot. He, and the others of his cadre, are in many ways stereotypical Filipino politicians; they cannot conceive of separating ideology from personality.
In short, even though there has been a period in the Philippines' history when the prospects for the CPP-NPA were brighter, they never have been nearly bright enough. And they grow more dim as time goes on.