Communism in the Philippines emerged in the first half of the 20th century during the American colonial era of the Philippines. Communist movements originated in labor unions and peasant groups. The communist movement has had multiple periods of popularity and relevance to the national affairs of the country, most notably during World War II and the martial law era of the Philippines. Currently, the communist movement is dominated by the armed insurgency against the government.
The communist movement in the Philippines officially began in 1930 with the establishment of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP, Communist Party of the Philippines). The party was outlawed in 1932 by a decision from the Supreme Court, but was technically legalized in 1938. It then merged with the Partido Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (Socialist Party of the Philippines) and played a part in guerrilla warfare against the Japanese during the Second World War by way of the Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (HUKBALAHAP, The Nation's Army Against the Japanese). After the war, the PKP vacillated between taking a moderate stance and launching an armed insurrection. A series of setbacks culminated in the surrender of Luis Taruc, the Huk Supremo, and the liquidation of the PKP. The PKP was again officially outlawed by the government, this time by virtue of Republic Act 1700, or the Anti-Subversion Act.
In 1968, the Communist Party of the Philippines was reestablished by Jose Maria Sison (writing under the pseudonym Amado Guerrero). Its military arm, the New People's Army, was formed the next year and was headed by Bernabe Buscayno (under the nom de guerre "Commander Dante"). The CPP-Mao Tse Tsung Thought splintered from the old PKP, clashing with it ideologically, reflecting the Sino-Soviet Split. Its united front, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, was established in 1973.
The CPP played a prominent role in the resistance against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. The NPA was the largest armed force that took up arms against the dictatorship. However, differences in ideology, strategy and tactics, and errors including the CPP's decision to boycott the 1986 Philippine presidential election led to a split in the CPP between "re-affirmists" and "rejectionists". The CPP is still currently the largest communist movement in the Philippines, waging a protracted people's war against the Philippine government while also engaged in on-and-off peace negotiations.
History
Early history
The first socialist and communist groups emerged as a result of the emergence of the labor movement in the Philippines. In 1901, Isabelo de los Reyes, an ilustrado, brought back what can be considered the first batch of socialist literature, consisting of writings by Proudhon, Bakunin, Malatesta, Marx and other leftists of the period. De los Reyes was influenced by Francisco Ferrer, an anarcho-syndicalist he met during a stay in Montjuïc prison in Barcelona, Spain.
Hermenegildo Cruz, a printer, established the first modern labor union in the country, the Union de Litografos y Impresores de Filipinas (ULIF). That same year, Cruz and de los Reyes formed the Unión Obrera Democrática (UOD), along with its official organ, La Redencion del Obrero. The UOD is considered to be the first trade union federation in the country.
The UOD was rechristened as the Union Obrero Democratica de Filipinas (UODF) by Dr. Dominador Gómez, who took over leadership of the UOD from De los Reyes. The UODF was instrumental in leading the first labor demonstration of Labor Day in the Philippines on May 1, 1903, but the organization was dissolved shortly after Gomez was arrested on charges of sedition.
Multiple labor federations emerged in the wake of the UODF's dissolution, including the Union del Trabajo de Filipinas (UTF), headed by Lope K. Santos and formed with the assistance of the American Federation of Labor in an effort by the colonial government to steer organized labor along less controversial paths. In 1908, the UODF reemerged as a result of dissatisfaction in the UTF's moderate policies, as well as partisan politics. On May 1, 1913, the Congreso Obrero de Filipinas (COF) was founded, with Cruz as its first President, and both the UODF and UTF were dissolved. The COF would become the country's foremost labor center until 1929.
In 1922, Antonio Ora formed the Partido Obrero, a political party meant to challenge the dominant Nacionalista and Democrata parties, but failed to win any seats in the 1925 elections. Regardless, their relative success attracted the attention of Crisanto Evangelista and Jacinto Manahan, who headed the UIF and the KPMP, respectively. The Partido Obrero would eventually be the basis of the PKP.
In 1927, the COF decided to affiliate itself with the Red International of Labor Unions. Evangelista, Manahan, and Cirlio Bognot were sent to the Profintern conference in Moscow in March 1928. On their return, Evangelista organized the first batch of Filipino pensionados to study in the University of Toilers of the East, Moscow. Two more groups were sent in 1929 and 1930.
The COF would become increasingly split between a conservative faction led by Ruperto Cristobal, Isabelo Tejada, Domingo Ponce, and others. Along with a Left faction headed by Evangelista. In 1929, Evangelista's Left faction in the COF drafted a "thesis" calling for measures such as the creation of unions based on industrial lines, the creation of a true workers' party, and so on. This measure was blocked by the conservatives by allegedly using dummy labor delegates, and Evangelista's faction walked out of the convention, splitting the COF. Twelve days later on May 12, 1929, the Katipunan ng mga Anakpawis sa Pilipinas (KAP) was formed as a more militant and more progressive labor federation.
Outside Manila, peasant and labor organizations also began to take shape, such as the Pagkakaisa ng Magsasaka founded by Manuel Palomares, the Kapatirang Magsasaka established by Teodoro Sandiko, and Anak Pawis. The most influential of these was Kalipunang Pambansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KPMP, National Union of Filipino Peasants), founded by Jacinto Manahan, a COF member.
In 1932, Pedro Abad Santos independently formed the Socialist Party of the Philippines (SPP) in Central Luzon. The next year, Abad Santos founded the Aguman ding Maldang Talapagobra (AMT, Union of the Toiling Masses). The AMT and the KPMP were both highly important in the peasant revolts and reforms of the 1930s, although neither group was formally socialist or communist. Members of both of these groups also formed a large section of the Hukbalahap.
Establishment of the PKP
On August 26, 1930, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP, Communist Party of the Philippines) was organized from members of the KAP and KPMP. The party itself was formalized as an official entity on November 7 of the same year. These two dates correspond with the Cry of Pugad Lawin and the Russian Revolution, respectively, symbolically linking the PKP with the nationalist and the communist revolutions.
Both the PKP and KAP were declared as illegal organizations by the Manila Court of First Instance (CFI) on September 14, 1931, sentencing twenty communist leaders of eight years and one day of banishment to the provinces. Evangelista was additionally sentenced with six months' imprisonment and a fine of 400 pesos for sedition. The convicted communists brought an appeal to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the Manila CFI decision on October 26, 1932. James S. Allen of the CPUSA persuaded Evangelista's group into taking a conditional pardon and intervened for their release. On December 24, 1938, Evangelista and others were granted a pardon and proceeded to enact a united front strategy.
The PKP also merged with Abad Santos' Partido Sosyalista, increasing its numbers and making up for lost time. The PKP established a Popular Front led by Abad Santos and participated heavily during elections in Central Luzon. The concept of a people's militia was conceived by party leaders as early as October 1941, when the PKP convened with other anti-fascist political groups, such as the League for the Defense of Democracy and the Friends of China.
During World War II, the top PKP leaders were arrested in Manila by invading Japanese forces, including Abad Santos, Evangelista, and Guillermo Capadocia. The Japanese also arrested Agapito del Rosario, the former vice-chairman of the SPP, and two relatives of Abad Santos. The second-front leadership under Dr. Vicente Lava took over the reins of the PKP and was elected general secretary.
In February 1942 a "struggle conference" was held in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija to discuss organization, strategy, and tactics. Several armed groups were immediately organized and began operating in Central Luzon. The guerrillas were eventually formally organized on March 29, 1942 as the Hukbalahap, eleven days before the Fall of Bataan. Although the Hukbalahap had a military commissariat which provided guidance to the Huks, the Hukbalahap itself was not a communist group, nor was it a communist group disguised as a nationalist one.
As the Huks quickly gained ground in Central Luzon, the PKP set out to establish Barrio United Defense Corps (BUDC) in Huk-controlled areas. The BUDC's served as a barrio-level government which was to maintain peace, order, and set up food production and recruitment in Huk-controlled areas, and overlapped between independently formed barrio governments, "neighborhood committees" set up by the Japanese, and BUDCs. On March 5, 1943, the Japanese struck the Huk headquarters in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija in a surprise attack, capturing many cadres and guerrillas.
In light of the aftermath of the Cabiao raid, PKP leadership began to adopt a "retreat for defense" policy, reducing the army organization to teams of three to five member groups and avoiding direct confrontation with the enemy. Most Hukbalahap squadrons did not follow such a policy, and a party conference in September 1944 declared the retreat for defense policy to have been erroneous. Vicente Lava was eventually removed as general secretary. By the end of the war, the Huks had 1,200 engagements, and inflicted some 25,000 enemy casualties. The Huks' strength consisted of 20,000 fully armed regulars and some 50,000 reservists.
At the end of the war and the return of American presence in the Philippines, USAFFE guerillas and former PC members forcibly disarmed Huk squadrons while charging other guerrillas of treason, sedition, and subversive activity. Huk leaders Luis Taruc, Casto Alejandrino, and other leaders were briefly arrested before being released by the Sergio Osmeña government. The PKP formally disbanded the Hukbalahap and formed the Hukbalahap Veterans' League (Hukvets) in an effort to get the Hukbalahap recognized as a legitimate guerrilla movement.
The PKP formed the Democratic Alliance, supporting Osmeña in the 1946 Presidential elections in an effort to defeat Manuel Roxas, who was seen as the lesser of two evils. The DA fielded candidates for Congress and Senate, including Vicente Lava, who was part of the PKP's Central Committee at the time. Six congressional candidates won, including Taruc, Juan Feleo, and Jesus Lava, but were prevented from taking their oaths in Congress by the Roxas administration, due to their opposition to the Bell Trade Act.
Continuing unrest in Central Luzon culminated in the killing of Juan Feleo. The Hukbalahap was revived as the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB, People's Liberation Army) and launched an insurrection against the Roxas government. PKP leadership was split between supporting the armed struggle and opposing it, though Jose Lava would eventually get the reins of Party leadership and fully lend its support to the HMB.