The New People's Army rebellion (often shortened to NPA rebellion) is an ongoing armed conflict between the government of the Philippines and the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines. It is the most prominent communist armed conflict in the Philippines, with more than 43,000 insurgency-related fatalities between 1969 and 2008. It is also one of the longest ongoing communist insurgencies in the world.
Due to the involvement of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the legal wing of the CPP, in the conflict, it is also called the CPP–NPA–NDF conflict, or simply the C/N/N conflict, especially in the context of peace talks with the Philippine government.
The history of the rebellion can be traced back to March 29, 1969, when Jose Maria Sison's newly formed CPP entered an alliance with a small armed group led by Bernabe Buscayno. Buscayno's group, which was originally a unit under the same Marxist–Leninist 1930s-era Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 with which Sison had split, was renamed the New People's Army and became the armed wing of the CPP. Less than two years later, President Ferdinand Marcos introduced martial law, leading to the radicalization of many young people and a rapid growth of the CPP-NPA.
In 1992, the NPA split into two factions: the reaffirmist faction, led by Sison, and the rejectionist faction, which advocated the formation of larger military units and urban insurgencies. Several smaller insurgent groups eventually emerged from the split. This includes the Marxist–Leninist Revolutionary Workers' Party rebellion and the rebellion of the Marxist–Leninist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan, which broke away from the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1998 and has since been in conflict with both the government and the CPP. Prior to the 1992 split, there had been one other significant splinter group – the Cordillera People's Liberation Army which had chosen to put greater emphasis on regional autonomy for the Cordillera region.
The year 2022 was marked with the deaths of Sison and the husband-and-wife duo of Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, the latter two being the alleged leaders of the NPA. By 2024, the number of active communist rebels was noted to have dropped to just over 1,000 amidst a gradual weakening of the rebellion and the restarting of peace talks with the government.
Background
The original Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 (lit. 'Communist Party of the Philippines-1930'; PKP) was established in 1930 by members of the Partido Obrero de Filipinas and the Socialist Party of the Philippines with the help of the COMINTERN. It would later lead an anti-Japanese Hukbalahap Rebellion in 1942 with the Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon. During World War II, these communist guerrillas fought against both the Japanese and other guerrilla bands. In the years following, Maoist factions began organizing mass organizations such as Kabataang Makabayan, Malayang Kilusan ng Kababaihan and hosting theoretical studies on Marxism–Leninism–Maoism. They would eventually break off from the old party and form the Communist Party of the Philippines/Marxist–Leninist–Maoist in 1968.
Founding of the New People's Army (1969)
The New People's Army was established by Jose Maria Sison and Bernabe Buscayno as the armed wing of the CPP-MLM. The new Maoist leadership would drop the reformist ideas that led the CPP-1930 to collaborate with the government of Ferdinand Marcos, and enforce Maoist principles, aimed at creating a socialist state through New Democracy by launching a people's war. Its initial strength was estimated to compromise approximately 60 guerrillas and 35 weapons.
History
Initial strength and tactics
When Buscayno's forces became the NPA in 1969, they were reported to have only 60 guerrillas and 35 World War II-era guns.
At first, the NPA tried to follow the Maoist military doctrine of "establishing stable base areas", but this was abandoned when their forces took heavy casualties in Northern Luzon, in favor of dispersing their forces.
The NPA's stockpile of weaponry allegedly grew to 60 guns, but all 60 of these guns were lost in an encounter against the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and they were not able to regain firepower until the defection of Lt. Victor Corpus and the 1970 PMA Armory raid.
December 1970 PMA Armory raid
The NPA was finally able to regain weaponry on December 29, 1970, when Philippine Military Academy instructor Lt. Victor Corpus defected to the CPP-NPA and led a raid on the PMA armory, timing the raid when most cadets were out on Christmas vacation and the PMA's senior officers including its superintendent, General Ugalde, had left the camp to meet President Ferdinand Marcos upon his scheduled arrival in nearby Baguio City. Corpus, who was PMA's designated officer of the day (OOD), guided the NPA raiding team which managed to escape with Browning automatic rifles, carbines, machine guns, and various other weapons and ammunition.
Exaggeration of the situation by the Marcos administration
Even on September 23, 1972, when Martial Law was announced, the Philippine National Security Council did not see the NPA as a major threat. Just a few days earlier on September 19, 1972, the council's threat assessment was "between 'normal' and 'Internal Defense Condition 1'", the highest being condition "3." One of the generals serving under General Fabian Ver of the National Intelligence and Security Authority later recalled that "Even when Martial Law was declared, the communists were not a real threat. The military could handle them."
Despite the small size of the NPA at the time, the Marcos administration hyped up its formation, supposedly because this would help build up political and monetary support from the US, which was caught up in red scare paranoia at the time. As a result, as security specialist Richard J. Kessler notes, the administration "mythologized the group, investing it with a revolutionary aura that only attracted more supporters."
First incidents of violence
There are two nominated dates which are said to have marked the first tactical operations of the New People's army - one in 1971 based on the narratives of retired Brig. General Victor Corpus, and another in 1974 based on the narrative out forward by the NPA itself.
According to Corpus, the first act of violence taken by the NPA was the Plaza Miranda bombing which took place on August 21, 1971. Corpus alleges that it was NPA cadres who threw three grenades onto the stage at a Liberal Party rally in Manila, killing nine people and injuring 95 others.
This has been disputed in numerous historical texts, which blame President Ferdinand Marcos as the perpetrator of the bombing. Jose Maria Sison continuously denied that he and the Communist Party of the Philippines were responsible for the bombing up to his death.
More recently, historian Joseph Scalice has argued that while the Marcos government was allied with the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP) in carrying out other bombings throughout the early 1970s, "the evidence of history now overwhelmingly suggests that the Communist Party of the Philippines, despite being allied with the Liberal Party, was responsible for this bombing, seeing it as a means of facilitating repression which they argued would hasten revolution." Relying on small armed community-based propaganda units, the NPA found itself in an all-out rebellion by 1972.
The first tactical operation acknowledged by the NPA would not take place until 1974, two years after Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law. This took place in Calbiga, Samar, where the NPA ambushed an Army scout patrol and seized a number of their weapons.
Rapid growth of the NPA under the Marcos martial law era (1972–1986)
Largely due to Marcos' heavy crackdown on protests and activism during the very early 1970s, the New People's Army underwent rapid growth from 1972 during the period of martial law under Ferdinand Marcos.
Marcos crackdown and activist radicalization (1970-1972)
The social unrest of 1969 to 1970, and the violent dispersals of the resulting "First Quarter Storm" protests were among the early watershed events in which large numbers of Filipino students of the 1970s were radicalized against the Marcos administration. Due to this crackdown, many students who had previously held "moderate" positions (i.e., calling for legislative reforms) became convinced that they had no choice but to call for more radical social change.
Other watershed events that would later radicalize many otherwise "moderate" opposition members include the February 1971 Diliman Commune; the August 1971 suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the wake of the Plaza Miranda bombing; the September 1972 declaration of Martial Law; the 1980 murder of Macli-ing Dulag; and the August 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino.
This radicalization led to a significant growth of the CPP and of the New People's Army under the Marcos administration. Writer and peace advocate Gus Miclat cites the example of Mindanao: "There was not one NPA cadre in Mindanao in 1972. Yes, there were activists, there were some firebrands... but there were no armed rebels then except for those that eventually formed the Moro National Liberation Front. When Marcos fled in 1986, the NPA was virtually in all Mindanao provinces, enjoying even a tacit alliance with the MNLF."
The parallel Moro insurgency created favorable conditions for the development of NPA. During the 1970s, 75% of the Philippine military was deployed on the island of Mindanao, a Moro stronghold, despite the 1976 peace deal between the government and MILF. As of 2000, 40% of the AFP troops continued to engage Moro rebels.
Establishment of the National Democratic Front (1973)
The National Democratic Front was established in 1973 as the political front of the CPP-MLM, bringing together broad revolutionary organizations which accepted their 12-point program, and building international relations with foreign communist parties such as the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
Abandonment of the Mao "Base Area" strategy (1974)
By 1974, the NPA realized that following Mao's doctrine of "establishing stable base areas", was only resulting in heavy casualties to their forces in Central and Northeastern Luzon. A new strategy of decentralization, codified in the 1974 document "Specific Characteristics of Our People's War," saw the establishment of regional commands, initially throughout Northeastern Luzon, and then in Southern Tagalog and Bicol.
Formation of the CPLA and Mount Data Peace Accord (1986)
In 1986, the Cordillera People's Liberation Army was formed when the New People's Army unit led by former priest Conrado Balweg broke away from the New People's Army, accusing the latter of incompetence in pursuing its goals. The splinter group's new stated goal was to fight for autonomy for the people of the Cordillera.
Shortly after Ferdinand Marcos was ousted by the People Power Revolution, the CPLA made a "sipat" or ceasefire with the newly established Provisional Government of the Philippines at the Mt. Data Hotel, in Bauko, Mountain province on September 13, 1986. The agreement between the two sides was called the 1986 Mount Data Peace Accord.
Corazon Aquino administration (1986–1992)
Release of Political Prisoners and "resurfacing" of activists
After Ferdinand Marcos was deposed during the 1986 EDSA Revolution, president Corazon Aquino ordered the release of political prisoners, including Jose Maria Sison and Bernabe Buscayno. Buscayno ceased activities related to the CPP-NPA while Sison eventually went into self-exile in the Netherlands, ostensibly to become chief political consultant to the NDF. Many activists who had joined the underground movement against Marcos chose to "resurface."
Mendiola massacre and cessation of peace talks
Preliminary peace talks were held between the new administration and the CPP–NPA–NDF, but these ended when the Mendiola massacre took place on January 22, 1987. This effectively ended dialogue between the CPP–NPA–NDF throughout the rest of Corazon Aquino's administration.
1992 reaffirmist/rejectionist split
Between the 1970s and 1980s, thousands of volunteers, including youth and teenagers from both urban and rural areas, joined the organization. In 1992, NPA split into two factions: the reaffirmist faction led by Sison and the rejectionist faction which advocated the formation of larger military units and urban insurgencies. Through NPA's history, 13 smaller factions emerged from the group, the most notable being MLPP-RHB, APP, RPA-M, RPM/P–RPA–ABB and CPLA.
This split resulted in a weakening of the CPP-NPA, but it gradually grew again after the breakdown of peace talks in 1998, the unpopularity of the Estrada administration, and because of social pressures arising from the Asian Financial Crisis that year.
Ramos administration (1992–1998)
Repeal of the 1957 Anti-Subversion Act
A breakthrough in the peace process between the Government of the Philippines and the Communist Party of the Philippines took place on October 11, 1992, when Republic Act (RA) 1700 – the 1957 Anti-Subversion Act – was repealed by RA 7636 and the government declared a policy of amnesty and reconciliation. This was quickly followed by the Hague Joint Declaration of September 1, 1992, in which the Government of the Philippines and the Communist Party of the Philippines (through the National Democratic Front) agreed to work towards formal negotiations and "a just and lasting peace."
1995 JASIG and 1998 CARHRIHL agreements
In 1995, negotiations led to the signing of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), under which negotiators on either side of the conflict were assured of "free and safe movement—without fear of search, surveillance, or arrest."
In 1998, another agreement, the Comprehensive Agreement to Respect Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) was signed in an effort to protect civilians from the violence between the two parties.