Communist Party of the Philippines
Encyclopedia
The Communist Party of the Philippines (in Filipino
: Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a leading communist party
in the Philippines
. It remains an underground political organization since its founding on December 26, 1968 and has been operating in clandestine manner since its founding. It aims to overthrow the Philippine government through armed revolution with its direct leadership over New People's Army
and National Democratic Front (Philippines)
.
, the Chinese communist leader.
Amado Guerrero (allegedly the nom de guerre of Jose Maria Sison
), a central committee member of Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas lead the reestablishment of the party. Jose Maria Sison
, confirmed its birth at Barangay Dulacac in the tri-boundary of Alaminos
, Bani
and Mabini
in the province of Pangasinan
. This is where the CPP "congress of reestablishment" was held on December 26, 1968, at a hut near the house of the Navarettes, the parents-in-law of Arthur Garcia, one of the CPP founders. Sison announced that communist guerillas held "cultural activities" and celebrated the 39th anniversary of the movement. On December 26, 2007, the Communist Party of the Philippines commemorated its 39th anniversary.
According to Party documents, in 1960s onwards, 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
. The unrest was also inspired by the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Vietnam War
and other revolutionary struggles abroad against United States
imperialist aggression.
One of the leaders of the movement is Jose Ma. Sison, a founder of Kabataang Makabayan who was then recruited to be a member of Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas(PKP). During that time the new PKP members independently from PKP were conducting clandestine theoretical and political education on Marxist–Leninist vantage among workers, peasants and youth.
They advocated to resume the unfinished armed revolution against foreign and feudal domination, combat subjectivism and opportunism in the history of the old merger party and fight modern revisionism then being promoted by Soviet Union
.
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 criticize the major errors of the PKP which has 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 lead the reestablishment of the party after he and his colleagues bolted out from the PKP. Jesus Lava, the General Secretary of the PKP was repudiated as counterrevolutionary revisionist and also the gangster clique of Pedro Taruc-Sumulong in the old people's army of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), remnant of the Hukbalahap
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
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 the Lava revisionist renegades in Manila as well as the Taruc-Sumulong gangster clique 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 but he was still in China when he was elected in the Central Committee in absentia.
was established and on April 24, 1973 the National Democratic Front (Philippines)
.
Afterwards, the CPP launch the "protracted people's war" a strategical line developed by Mao Zedong during the phase of guerrilla warfare
of the Communist Party of China
. 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. 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
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.
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.
Armando Liwanag, chairman of CPP issued a document Reaffirm Our Basic Principles and Carry the Revolution Forward that repudiated the deviations of leading party cadres in the country that resulted to the gravest setbacks and destruction to the Party and the revolutionary movement, first in one major island and subsequently on a nationwide scale.
This erroneous policies has caused setbacks through a process of self-constriction and has inflicted unprecedentedly heavy losses in the strength of the Party and the people's army and gross reductions of mass base.
With the criticism and debates that ensued between the leading party cadres resulted to the expulsion of advocates of "left and right opportunism" notably forming the so-called "rejectionists" and "reaffirmist" factions.
The rejectionist banners the line of "strategic counteroffensive", "regularization", and combining military adventurism with insurrectionism from 1980 onward that overlapped with reafirmist that upholds the correct revolutionary of the 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.
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 will later merge to form the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa - Pilipinas (RPM-P) in 1998. However the Mindanao-based cadres will later leave the RPM-P after a debate regarding the RPM-P's signing of a peace pact with the government then led by Joseph Estrada
, they formed the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa - Mindanao (RPM-M).
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 will then form the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP), 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 will then merge with Lagman's PMP and Melencio's SPP to give rise to the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino-Pinagsanib (PMP-Pinagsanib). But in 2007 another reported split occurrTed due to the rift between Lagman and Melencio supporters.
In 1997 several cadres from the Central Luzon committee was accused of sowing factionalism and "civilianization" of the NPA units. These cadres earlier supported the "Reaffirm" document by CPP Chairman Armando Liwanag and would attempt to appeal for the Chairman's support. The expected support 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 People's War strategy but much more similar to Vietnamese and Nepalese revolutionary strategies.
. It heads the broad revolutionary front organization, the National Democratic Front
.
, Friedrich Engels
, Vladimir Lenin
, Joseph Stalin
, and Mao Zedong
. It assists the progress of theory and practice in the world proletarian revolution
that is guided by Marxism
-Leninism
-Maoism (Preamble, Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines, 1968).
signed Amnesty Proclamation 1377 for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army
; 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
and the House of Representatives of the Philippines
for their concurrence. The proclamation becomes effective only after Congress has concurred.
On January, 2008, Avelino Razon, Philippine National Police chief stated that the New People's Army
(NPA) rebels have only 5,700 members as of 2007 due to military destruction of 13 guerrilla bases (lowest level in 20 years). NPAs fought in 69 of 81 Philippine provinces since 1969. 40,000 people have died in the conflict.
It also predicts that a revolutionary government will win the revolution by toppling the current Philippine government and establish a new state led by the Maoist in ten years.
As a Maoist military doctrine, the CPP-lead NPA follows the three progressive phases of protracted warfare—strategic defensive, strategic stalemate, and strategic offensive (see Mobile warfare
).
The CPP considers the present revolution to be at an advance sub-stage of strategic defensive.
(The Nation) is the national publication of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines while the Rebolusyon (Revolution) is its theoretical journal.
Balita ng Malayang Pilipinas (Free Philippines News Service) is the news agency of the Communist Party and the National Democratic Front
Other regional and revolutionary publications include:
Filipino language
This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
: Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a leading communist party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. It remains an underground political organization since its founding on December 26, 1968 and has been operating in clandestine manner since its founding. It aims to overthrow the Philippine government through armed revolution with its direct leadership over New People's Army
New People's Army
The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of 'protracted people's war'.The NPA exacts so called "revolutionary taxes" from business owners...
and National Democratic Front (Philippines)
National Democratic Front (Philippines)
National Democratic Front is a coalition of far left leaning political parties, churches , agricultural unions, trade unions, and other related groups in the Philippines...
.
History
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was reestablished on December 26, 1968 as it splits from the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas and coincides with the 75th birthday of Mao ZedongMao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, the Chinese communist leader.
Amado Guerrero (allegedly the nom de guerre of Jose Maria Sison
José María Sison
Jose Maria Sison is a writer and activist who reorganized the Communist Party of the Philippines and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy....
), a central committee member of Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas lead the reestablishment of the party. Jose Maria Sison
José María Sison
Jose Maria Sison is a writer and activist who reorganized the Communist Party of the Philippines and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy....
, confirmed its birth at Barangay Dulacac in the tri-boundary of Alaminos
Alaminos
Alaminos may refer to:* Alaminos, Cyprus* Alaminos, Guadalajara in Spain* Alaminos, Pangasinan, Philippines* Alaminos, Laguna, Philippines...
, Bani
Bani
Gurbani is the term used by Sikhs to refer to any compositions of the Sikh Gurus. Gurbani is composed of two words: 'Gur' meaning 'the Guru's' and 'bani' meaning 'word'....
and Mabini
Mabini
Mabini may refer to:*Apolinario Mabini , Philippine revolutionary leader*BRP Apolinario Mabini , a vessel in the Philippine Navy*The Mabini Academy, a school in Lipa City, Batangas, PhilippinesPlaces in the Philippines:...
in the province of Pangasinan
Pangasinan
Pangasinan is a province of the Republic of the Philippines. The provincial capital is Lingayen. Pangasinan is located on the west central and peripheral area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf, with the total land area being 5,368.82 square kilometers . According to the latest census,...
. This is where the CPP "congress of reestablishment" was held on December 26, 1968, at a hut near the house of the Navarettes, the parents-in-law of Arthur Garcia, one of the CPP founders. Sison announced that communist guerillas held "cultural activities" and celebrated the 39th anniversary of the movement. On December 26, 2007, the Communist Party of the Philippines commemorated its 39th anniversary.
According to Party documents, in 1960s onwards, a massive leftist unrest called First Quarter Storm
First Quarter Storm
The First Quarter Storm was a period of leftist unrest in the Philippines, composed of a series of heavy demonstrations, protests, and marches against the government from January to March 1970, or the first quarter of 1970...
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 Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
. The unrest was also inspired by the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and other revolutionary struggles abroad against United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
imperialist aggression.
One of the leaders of the movement is Jose Ma. Sison, a founder of Kabataang Makabayan who was then recruited to be a member of Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas(PKP). During that time the new PKP members independently from PKP were conducting clandestine theoretical and political education on Marxist–Leninist vantage among workers, peasants and youth.
They advocated to resume the unfinished armed revolution against foreign and feudal domination, combat subjectivism and opportunism in the history of the old merger party and fight modern revisionism then being promoted by Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
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 criticize the major errors of the PKP which has 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 lead the reestablishment of the party after he and his colleagues bolted out from the PKP. Jesus Lava, the General Secretary of the PKP was repudiated as counterrevolutionary revisionist and also the gangster clique of Pedro Taruc-Sumulong in the old people's army of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), remnant of the Hukbalahap
Hukbalahap
The Hukbalahap , was the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines , formed in 1942 to fight the Japanese Empire's occupation of the Philippines during World War II. It fought a second war from 1946 to 1954 against the pro-Western leaders of their newly independent country...
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
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
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 the Lava revisionist renegades in Manila as well as the Taruc-Sumulong gangster clique 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 but he was still in China when he was elected in the Central Committee in absentia.
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 March 29, 1969, the New People's ArmyNew People's Army
The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of 'protracted people's war'.The NPA exacts so called "revolutionary taxes" from business owners...
was established and on April 24, 1973 the National Democratic Front (Philippines)
National Democratic Front (Philippines)
National Democratic Front is a coalition of far left leaning political parties, churches , agricultural unions, trade unions, and other related groups in the Philippines...
.
Afterwards, the CPP launch the "protracted people's war" a strategical line developed by Mao Zedong during the phase of guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
of the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
. 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. 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
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...
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.
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 correct the erroneous errors that created a havoc on the revolutionary movement for more than a decade since its founding in 1968.Armando Liwanag, chairman of CPP issued a document Reaffirm Our Basic Principles and Carry the Revolution Forward that repudiated the deviations of leading party cadres in the country that resulted to the gravest setbacks and destruction to the Party and the revolutionary movement, first in one major island and subsequently on a nationwide scale.
This erroneous policies has caused setbacks through a process of self-constriction and has inflicted unprecedentedly heavy losses in the strength of the Party and the people's army and gross reductions of mass base.
With the criticism and debates that ensued between the leading party cadres resulted to the expulsion of advocates of "left and right opportunism" notably forming the so-called "rejectionists" and "reaffirmist" factions.
The rejectionist banners the line of "strategic counteroffensive", "regularization", and combining military adventurism with insurrectionism from 1980 onward that overlapped with reafirmist that upholds the correct revolutionary of the 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 the "Reaffirm" document penned by Liwanag. Those who affirmed the Maoist ortohdoxy was 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
New People's Army
The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of 'protracted people's war'.The NPA exacts so called "revolutionary taxes" from business owners...
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 will later merge to form the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa - Pilipinas (RPM-P) in 1998. However the Mindanao-based cadres will later leave the RPM-P after a debate regarding the RPM-P's signing of a peace pact with the government then led by Joseph Estrada
Joseph Estrada
Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada was the 13th President of the Philippines, serving from 1998 until 2001. Estrada was the first person in the Post-EDSA era to be elected both to the presidency and vice-presidency.Estrada gained popularity as a film actor, playing the lead role in over 100 films in...
, they formed the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa - Mindanao (RPM-M).
The KRMR faction led by Filemon Lagman
Filemón Lagman
Filemon Lagman , popularly known as Ka Popoy was a revolutionary socialist and workers' leader in the Philippines. He shares the ideology of Marxism-Leninism...
was earlier expelled from the RPM-P due to his "liquidationist" attitude and refusal to help in Party preparations and functions. He will then form the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP), 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 will then merge with Lagman's PMP and Melencio's SPP to give rise to the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino-Pinagsanib (PMP-Pinagsanib). But in 2007 another reported split occurrTed due to the rift between Lagman and Melencio supporters.
In 1997 several cadres from the Central Luzon committee was accused of sowing factionalism and "civilianization" of the NPA units. These cadres earlier supported the "Reaffirm" document by CPP Chairman Armando Liwanag and would attempt to appeal for the Chairman's support. The expected support 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 People's War strategy but much more similar to Vietnamese and Nepalese revolutionary strategies.
International Relations
It participates in the Maoist International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and OrganizationsInternational Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (International Newsletter)
The International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations is a grouping of parties and organizations adhering to Marxist-Leninist-Maoist thought...
. It heads the broad revolutionary front organization, the National Democratic Front
National Democratic Front (Philippines)
National Democratic Front is a coalition of far left leaning political parties, churches , agricultural unions, trade unions, and other related groups in the Philippines...
.
Ideology
The Communist Party of the Philippines, Marxist-Leninist-Maoism (MLM), is a revolutionary proletarian party that looks upon the legacies of past Philippine rebellions and revolutions and of the theories of Karl MarxKarl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
, Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, and Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
. It assists the progress of theory and practice in the world proletarian revolution
Proletarian revolution
A proletarian revolution is a social and/or political revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialists, communists, and most anarchists....
that is guided by Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
-Leninism
Leninism
In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...
-Maoism (Preamble, Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines, 1968).
Amnesty Proclamation
On September 5, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal-ArroyoGloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a Filipino politician who served as the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010, as the 12th Vice President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, and is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Pampanga...
signed Amnesty Proclamation 1377 for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army
New People's Army
The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of 'protracted people's war'.The NPA exacts so called "revolutionary taxes" from business owners...
; other communist rebel groups; and their umbrella organization, the National Democratic Front
National Democratic Front
National Democratic Front may refer to:*National Democratic Front *National Democratic Front *National Democratic Front *National Democratic Front *National Democratic Front *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
Senate of the Philippines
The Senate of the Philippines is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress of the Philippines...
and the House of Representatives of the Philippines
House of Representatives of the Philippines
The House of Representatives of the Philippines is the lower chamber of the...
for their concurrence. The proclamation becomes effective only after Congress has concurred.
On January, 2008, Avelino Razon, Philippine National Police chief stated that the New People's Army
New People's Army
The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of 'protracted people's war'.The NPA exacts so called "revolutionary taxes" from business owners...
(NPA) rebels have only 5,700 members as of 2007 due to military destruction of 13 guerrilla bases (lowest level in 20 years). NPAs fought in 69 of 81 Philippine provinces since 1969. 40,000 people have died in the conflict.
Ten Years for Victory
The CPP leadership, in its 41st anniversary statement, boldly calls for an advance in the revolutionary struggle and calls on its forces to make a great advance in the people’s war for new democracy. It declares its determination to strive within the next five years to make the great advance from the stage of strategic defensive to the strategic stalemate, fulfilling all the requirements and without skipping any necessary phase.It also predicts that a revolutionary government will win the revolution by toppling the current Philippine government and establish a new state led by the Maoist in ten years.
As a Maoist military doctrine, the CPP-lead NPA follows the three progressive phases of protracted warfare—strategic defensive, strategic stalemate, and strategic offensive (see Mobile warfare
Mobile warfare
*For various forms of wars based on mobility, see Maneuver warfare.*For the specific military methods of Mao Zedong, yundong zhan, see Mobile Warfare....
).
The CPP considers the present revolution to be at an advance sub-stage of strategic defensive.
Revolutionary Publications
Ang BayanAng Bayan
Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines, issued by the party's Central Committee. It describes the actions of party as well as its point of view on issues and events in the Philippines....
(The Nation) is the national publication of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines while the Rebolusyon (Revolution) is its theoretical journal.
Balita ng Malayang Pilipinas (Free Philippines News Service) is the news agency of the Communist Party and the National Democratic Front
Other regional and revolutionary publications include:
- Liberation - Official publication of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines
- Ang Kalihukan. (Ang Kilusan/The Movement) Publication of the National Democratic Front in Northern MindanaoMindanaoMindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
- Baringkuas (Pag-aalsa/Uprising) - revolutionary newspaper of the people of Cagayan ValleyCagayan ValleyCagayan Valley is a region of the Philippines, also designated as Region II or Region 02. It is composed of five provinces, namely: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino...
- Kahilwayan (Kalayaan/Liberation) Official newspaper of the Kabataang Makabayan-IloiloIloiloIloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique Province to the west and Capiz Province and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is Guimaras Province,...
- Kalatas (Message) Official newspaper of the revolutionary people of Southern TagalogSouthern TagalogSouthern Tagalog, or Region IV, was a region of the Philippines that is now composed of Region IV-A and Region IV-B . Region IV was split into the two regions on May 17, 2002...
- Kalayaan (Freedom) Official newspaper of the Kabataang Makabayan
- Daba-daba (Lagablab/Flame) - Revolutionary mass paper in PanayPanayPanay may refer to*Panay Island*Panay *Panay, Capiz*Panay River*Panay Gulf* USS Panay *Panay incident...
- Dangadang (Pakikibaka/Struggle) Revolutionary newspaper of the people of North-west LuzonLuzonLuzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
- Himagsik (Revolt) Revolutionary newspaper of the people of Central LuzonCentral LuzonCentral Luzon , also known as Region III , is an administrative division or region of the Republic of the Philippines, primarily serve to organize the 7 provinces of the vast central plain of the island of Luzon , for administrative convenience...
- Larab (Lagablab/Flame) Revolutionary masspaper in Eastern VisayasEastern VisayasEastern Visayas is one of the two regions of the Philippines having no land border with another region, MIMAROPA being the other, and is designated as Region VIII...
- Lingkawas (Paglaya/Liberation) Published by the Communist Party of the Philippines in Northeastern Mindanao
- Liyab (Flame) Official Publication of KAGUMA
- Malayang Pilipina (Liberated Filipina) Official Publication of MAKIBAKA
- Paghimakas (Pakikibaka/Struggle) Newspaper of the Communist Party of the Philippines in the island of Negros
- Pakigbisog (Pakikibaka/Struggle) Publication of the revolutionary people of Central VisayasCentral VisayasCentral Visayas, designated as Region VII, is a region of the Philippines located in the central part of the Visayas island group. It consists of four provinces—Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor— and the highly urbanized cities of Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Mandaue City....
- Pasa Bilis (Courier) Published by the National Democratic Front - Southern Mindanao
- Pilipinas (Philippines) Revolutionary newspaper from the Christians for National Liberation (NDF member representing priests and religious personnel)
- Silyab (Diklap/Spark) Published by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army in BicolBicolBikol or Bicol may refer to:*Bicol Region, the administrative region in the Philippines*Bikol languages, the languages spoken in the Bicol region*Bikol language, the standard language*Bicolano people, the ethnic group...
- Asdang (Isulong/Advance) Published by the National Democratic Front - Far South Mindanao