Communist Party of the Philippines
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) (Filipino: Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a far-left, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. It is designated as a terrorist group by the United States Department of State[1][2] together with Sison and its armed wing New People's Army (NPA)[3] in 2002. The European Union[4] renewed its terrorist designation on the organization in 2019,[5] 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.[6] According to the US' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, the CPP and the NPA aims to destabilize the Philippines' economy and overthrow the national government.[7]
This article is about the party founded by Jose Maria Sison in 1968. For the original Communist Party of the Philippines founded in 1930, see Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930.
Communist Party of the Philippines Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas
Philippine president and Sison's former student[8][9][10] Rodrigo Duterte declared the group a terrorist organization in 2017,[11][12] though the CPP-NPA has not yet been legally declared as a terrorist group by Philippine courts.[13]
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 by former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos 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 in 1986, President Corazon Aquino 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.[14]
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.[15] The organization remains an underground operation, with its primary goals being to overthrow the Philippine government 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[16] formation in the world, with the organization claiming to have 150,000 members,[17] while other sources claim the membership to have peaked at 25,000 members in the late 1980s [18] with membership dwindling ever since.
Designation as a terrorist organization[edit]
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 in accordance with the Human Security Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.[11][12] However, the CPP-NPA has not yet been legally declared as a terrorist group by Philippine courts.[13]
Historically the CPP-NPA has been considered as an "organized conspiracy" by the Philippine government. The label was placed on the CPP's predecessor, the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 and its armed group the Hukbalahap on 20 June 1957 through the Anti Subversion Act or Republic Act No. 1700. The law covered any succeeding organizations of the PKP-1930 and the Hukbalahap which includes the CPP-NPA. Being a member of groups covered by the law was considered illegal.[28] In October 1992, Fidel Ramos signed a law repealing the Anti-Subversion law.[29][30]
The United States[1] and the European Union[4] have designated the CPP–NPA as "foreign terrorist organizations" in 2002 and 2005, respectively.
Declarations of persona non grata against the CPP-NPA-NDF[edit]
On 11 December 2020, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said that 1,546 or 90.1% of the total 1,715 Local Government Units (LGUs) nationwide have declared the CPP-NPA-NDF persona non grata. Of these 1,546 LGUs, 64 are provinces, 110 are cities, 1,372 are municipalities, with the remaining 169 LGUs in various stages of deliberation in their respective provincial, city, and municipal councils. Some 12,474 barangays nationwide have also declared the CPP-NPA-NDF unwelcome in their territories. Six of the 17 regions in the country have reached a 100 percent declaration of persona non grata to the CPP-NPA-NDF, which are Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Mimaropa, and Cordillera Administrative Region.[31][32]
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.[33][34]
International relations[edit]
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.[35]
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.[36]
