Origins, strategies, and impact of the New People's Army

Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA)

This paper discusses the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA) in detail. It puts light on the origins, aims, objectives, strategies and tactics of the organization. In addition to that, this paper also comments on the leadership, area of operations and military activities of the organization. Moreover, it highlights the government and military activities that are directed towards minimizing the strength and vigor of the NPA.

Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA)

Since the year 1970, Philippines has faced civil war on two fronts, one is a Muslim rebellion, which was initiated in the South Island of Mindanao and the other is the communist rebellion, which is led by the New People's Army (NPA). The NPA started targeting its attacks on the Philippine's army in the early 1970s. During the era of 1970s and early 1980s, NPA gained considerable popular support because of its struggle against the dictatorship of the then president of Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

In the month of February, in the year 1986, Marcos was overthrown to the people's power revolution. This event had a detrimental impact on the popular appeal of NPA and the organization was divided into parts. Despite the creation of divisions within the organization, the New People's Army continues to be a major source of a number of violent events. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

In addition to that, the remnants of this organization continue to attack the political opponents and have clashes with the government on various issues. Inspite of its various initiatives, the government of Philippines has not yet succeeded in striking efficient negotiations with the NPA that might put a formal end to the conflicts. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

Origins and Overview of the Organization

The NPA was formulated, on 29th of March in the year 1969, by CPP in Central Luzon in the provinces of Tarlac and Pampanga provinces. CPP, at the time of the formulation of NPA, was in a newly re-established and refurbished state. Bernabe Buscayno was selected as the founding commander-in-chief of the NPA. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

Apart from that, NPA began its operations with only 60 guerrillas and at the time of its initiation it held only 35 weapons, out of which 9 were automatic rifles and the remaining 26 consisted of single-shot rifles and handguns. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

The organization, however, expanded heavily under the martial law regime of President Ferdinand Marcos. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006) The factors that played an influential role in the early success of the NPA included the following:

The heavy emphasis on the rural areas for the purpose of guerrilla warfare. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

The adaption and utilization of the guerrilla strategy of Mao. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

In the year 1985, it was declared by the organization that it was close to a military victory. The destruction of the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos in the year 1986, however, led towards the creation of turmoil within the organization. The main reason behind the creation of this turmoil was the conflict of interest among the leaders of the organization. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

Some of the leaders of NPA wanted the organization to become a part of the mainstream politics, whereas, the other leaders were of the viewpoint that the organization shall continue its armed struggle. Another reason behind the creation of this turmoil was the decrease in the vigor and extent of the support of the armed conflict. After a series of inconclusive and unsuccessful peace talks with the Aquino government, the robust elements of the NPA continued with their armed conflict in the year 1987. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

The founding leader of the New People's Army was Jose Sison. The NPA, in the present era, is regarded as longest-running insurgency, which is Marxist, of the South East Asia. This organization has been performing its activities in a consistent manner since the last 34 years. A number of tremendous shifts in the global political conditions including the fall of the power of the Soviet Union and its exclusion from the super powers of the world, and the initiation and discovery of a number of new ideological organizations such as Al Qaeda, had no impact on the activities of this organization. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

In the month of June in the year 2003, the NPA performed one of its deadliest attack that was ever witnessed in the previous decade. Under this attack about 200 of the militants of NPA raided a camp of the Philippine army. As a result of this attack 17 people were killed. Due to the severity of the attack, the then president of Philippine, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the Philippine army to initiate an urgent crackdown on the organization. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

Before the execution of this attack, the government of Philippine had made two attempts to engage the organization in successful and efficient peace talks. Both of these attempts, as mentioned above, were unsuccessful and produced no results. In the year 2001, the government of Philippine indulged in peace talks with the organization, but these peace talks were ceases after the assassination of two of the congressmen of Philippine by the organization. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

The peace talks were again resumed in the year 2003, but these peace talks were rejected by the NPA rebels. The members of NPA rejected to have a peace accord with the government by stating that they were under extensive force because they were listed on the terrorist list of the United States of America and Europe. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

The NPA is one of the Communist rebel groups that operate with an aim of overthrowing the Philippine government. The organization seeks to replace the government of Philippine with a 'national democratic' group. The NPA plans to achieve this through the initiation of 'protracted people's war', with the help of guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla warfare was regarded as one of the basic forms of warfare in the early stages of warfare. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

The New People's Army comes under the governance of the CPP. This organization also constitutes a part of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). NDFP is the guiding source for all the mass national democratic organization. In addition to that, it is also the political wing of the CPP. The NPA has made a number of efforts to begin a rural war, which is peasant based. In addition to that, in order to replace the present government the organization has also made a number of diplomatic efforts with the help of its legal organizations, NDFP, the NGOSs that form an alliance with it, electoral participation and people's organization. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

Current Status of the New People's Army

The organization has been going through some resurgence since the year 1995, as mentioned by Barabicho (2003) and Szajkowski (2004). The major reason behind the decline in the strength of NPA is that it does not have the appropriate military backup and support that is required for the full imposition of the organization on the political landscape of Philippine. It is, however, extremely unlikely that the New People's Army will disappear from the political landscape of Philippine as an inactive stakeholder.

The stability of the organization is backed up the fact that, there is a continuous growth in the spread of poverty in Philippine. In addition to that, the excessive growth in population of the country, also ensures that there is no shortage of economically unstable and aggressive people who have a high probability of getting recruited in the NPA and the CPP and helping them in achieving their aims and objectives. (International Crisis Group Board of Trustees, 2011)

Even though, the recent record that the organization has in relation to harnessing dissatisfaction of latent public is not as commendable as it was during the era of 1970s and 19780s, the organization still acts as one of the strongest insurgencies of the Philippine. In addition to that, the organization and the chances of creating peace between it and the government have been hurt severely by a number of factors. (International Crisis Group Board of Trustees, 2011)

These factors include the designation of CPP's as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department of United States of America on 9th of August 2002 and policy of President Arroyo in relation to all-out war. All the efforts of striking successful peace talks with the government of Philippine were ceased in the month of August 2004 because of the pressure and insistence of the NDFP. (International Crisis Group Board of Trustees, 2011)

Ideology and Objectives

As indicated by a number of studies the gap or conflict between the Rejectionist and Reaffirmist divisions of Philippine began in the initiation of the era of 1980s. This gap was triggered when the party members of some began to criticize the 'Marxist-Leninist-Mao Zedong (MLMZD)' ideology, which was followed and supported by Jose Sison. (International Crisis Group Board of Trustees, 2011)

The second rectification campaign of rectification or a program designed to send the government of Philippine back-to-basics, which was initiated by Jose Sison, pushed the insurgents and the organizations leading them to the barangays, where these organizations designed the armed propaganda units or Sandatahang Yunit Pangpropaganda (SYP). (International Crisis Group Board of Trustees, 2011)

The above mentioned events demoralize the remaining cadres and most of them went for surrendering the mission or deceiving the organization. The protracted war, which was led by Mai, became a cause of impatience and tension for the other insurgents, who belonged to Philippine. This is because most of the member of the insurgencies died in the battlefield due to the spread of diseases or other severe factors without even witnessing the outcomes or fruits of their sacrifice. (International Crisis Group Board of Trustees, 2011)

Most of the impatient insurgents, however, belonged either to the labor sectors or the urban sectors. As a result of the above mentioned stream of events, another division in Philippine was formed. This division was called the Rejectionist faction. The aim of the Rejectionist faction was to establish the working class of Philippine as a political party that would be revolutionary in nature. This party would initiate and govern a revolutionary movement in the country of Philippine. This revolutionary movement was based on the Marxist-Leninist ideology. (International Crisis Group Board of Trustees, 2011)

The Rejectionist faction clearly stated that one of the essential components of the struggle for freedom of the working class was the development of an armed revolution. It also indicated that it was not possible for the party to conduct an armed revolution if the working class harbored a socialist consciousness. In the presence of socialist consciousness, the working class shall begin a democratic battle that would lead towards socialism. (International Crisis Group Board of Trustees, 2011)

Leadership

The founding leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA) is Jose Maria 'Joma' Sison (alias Amado Guerrero). Since the year 1986, Jose Maria has been sent to exile in Utrecht, which is in the Netherlands. In he is rendering his services as the Chief Political Consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

It is believed that Jose Maria still leads the organization ideologically and politically. In addition to that, he is also believed to have been releasing the policy documents for the NPA by assuming the false name Armando Liwanag. Apart from that it is also reported that Jose Maria Sison is still performing his activities as the chairman of the Central Committee of the CPP/NPA. This claim, however, has been continuously denied by Jose Maria Sison. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

It has been stated and declared by the military sources of Philippine that the day-to-day activities and operations of CPP and NPA are governed and controlled by Benito

Tiamzon. It has also been stated that his wife, Wilma, assist him in performing his duties. Both of these leaders of NPA are reported to sit on the Politburo. Apart from that, they are also an important part of the executive committee which is based in Luzon, the largest Island in Philippine. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

Much information is not available in relation to the hierarchy of positions, chains of command and span of control of the CPP and NPA. This because these elements are kept as tightly guarded secrets by both of the organizations. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

A number of communication tools and channels are utilized by the organization in order to conduct communication between the Netherlands and the Philippines. These mediums and tools include Mobile phones, couriers, and letters and emails, which are encrypted and hence the messages in them cannot be disclosed easily. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

The organization has lost a number of its past leaders. This is because either these leaders were assassinated or they left the party on their own. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006) Some of the former leaders of NPA who are not a part of the organization anymore are listed below:

Romulo Kintanar, who was the former chief of NPA, splitted from and left the organization in the year 1992. It is also reported that after he left the organization he was liquidated or bankrupted by the CPP and NPA in the year 2002. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

Rodolfo Salas also left the party. He rendered his services as the chairman of CPP from 1977 to 1986. In addition to that he also acted as the chief of NPA chief from the year 1976 to 1986. (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

The former head of the Manila-Rizal Regional Party Committee, Filemon 'Ka Popoy' Lagman, was assassinated in the year 2001. The responsibility of his assassination was denied by the organization in a categorical manner. Lagman was also an influential political leader of the splinter group, which was called Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB). (Staff of Political Economy Research Institute, 2006)

Military activities

The major variables related to the military activities of the NPA are discussed in the following section:

Size and strength

According to the estimates of the military, there was a decline in the members of NPA from the year 2006 to the year 2007. In the year 2007, the organization had 7,260 members, whereas, the number of members in the year 2006 was estimated to be 8,000 to 9,000. The organization has been reported to carry around 6,050 firearms. It has also been estimated that around 85 per cent of the members of the organization are loyal to their leader Sison. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

It was claimed by CPP in the month of March 2007 that the organization consisted of around 12,000 soldiers, who were fully armed and were distributed in 130 guerrilla fronts that were present in 70 out of 79 provinces of Philippine. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

It has however, been indicated that both of these facts are overestimated and inflated. The rebel told the officials that the organization consists of less than 4,800 members. He also indicated that generally only 30 -- 40 fighters are assigned to each of the 120 fronts in which the CPP-NPA has claimed to run its operations. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

It has also been estimated by the AFP that the peak strength of NPA was witnessed in the year 1987 in which it had a total membership of around 25,200 soldiers. It has, however, been indicated by Satur Ocampo, who was the former leader of NDFP, that the total membership of NPA amounted to only 7,000 members throughout the nation in the year 1987. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

In addition to that, the AFP has also indicated that the first decline of the organization in the year 1988, which then extended for 12 years. In the year 1987, the organization witnessed a downward trend that progressed in a slow and steady to the beginning of the era of 1990s. The membership of the organization was estimated to be 6,000 from the year 1994 to the year 1995. The organization held 5,298 firearms at that time, which were present in the 445 influenced barangays. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

Control

Theoretically, the political control of the CPP lies with its Central Committee, which consists of 24 members. This central committee is overseen and controlled by the politburo, which consists of 8 members. It is said the politburo is directed and led by Jose by Sison who gets in touch with the organization from the Netherlands. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

The degree of tactical autonomy is very high among the individual fronts of NPA that operate in different areas in the Philippines. In addition to that, as it is often quite difficult for the units to communicate with their leaders, therefore, these units need to operate in a self-sufficient manner in relation to both, the logical and the financial fronts. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

It shall, however, be kept under consideration that all regulars of the NPA are not regarded as party members, but all of these regulars are subjected to the ideological control and discipline of the NPA. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

Areas of operation

The organization is present in almost all the areas of Philippine. In the year 2005, it was reported that the organization was operating in all the islands of the country. After the resurgence of the organization in the era of 1990s, the NPA increased the proportion of villages in which it operated from 1% to 5%. This increase took place from a time period ranging between the year 1996 and the year 2002. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

In the year 2006, it was claimed by the NPA claimed that it operated in 120 guerilla fronts that were spread in 800 different municipalities in almost 70 out of the 79 provinces of the Philippine. The NPA has strongholds in a number of areas. These areas include the islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Southern Tagalog. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

Strategy and tactics

The main strategy of NPA is to govern and successfully run Maoist protracted people's war. The organization aims at primarily waging the war through the deployment and initiation of guerilla warfare in the countryside. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

The tactics which are being deployed by the organization include the processes of 'annihilation' and 'attrition'. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

The organization achieves these tactics by seizing the weapons of the army of Philippine. In addition to that, it also snips and harasses the bridges of wars, take military officers as prisoners of wars and destroys and harms the power and communication infrastructures as a part of its tactics. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

Other tactics of NPA tactics include the killing of the military officials, police officers and politicians. The organization assassinates the officials who are reported to be involved in corrupt, crime and counter-insurgency activities. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

In addition to that, the organization has also attacked a number of security forces of the United States of America and various drug traffickers as well. In the era of 1980s, these assassinations were generally carried out by 'sparrow' assassination units who were based in the urban areas of Philippine. (Staff of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2010)

The Military and Government Initiatives to Control the Activities of the New People's Army

The NPA has been criticized by a number of organizations and officials for recruiting a large number of minors in order to achieve its objectives. In an article, which was published in May 2012, a statement was issued by Major General Victor A. Felix, who is the commander of the 4th Infantry Division of the military in Cagayan de Oro City. This statement stated that the NPA was utilizing the innocence of minor population of the Philippine in a cruel manner to achieve its objectives and aims. As a result, the organization hindered the minors from going to schools and leaving a normal and peaceful life. (Parlade, 2006)

The initiation of aggressive and efficient joint government and military-based campaigns led towards the killing surrendering and capturing of a number of the soldiers of the NPA. In addition to that, these campaigns have also destroyed a number of operational bases of the organization that were situated in the deep jungle areas. (Parlade, 2006)

Most of the operations of the organization were governed by its former leaders and regulars, these people have now joined the mainstream society and left the organization. The government of Philippine has indicated that most of the victories of NPA are attributable to the effective AFP campaign plans, which consisted of the Army and Air Force PSYOP units or Special Operations Teams. These operational teams carried out operations in the villages that were influenced by the insurgents of NPA. These operations extended for weeks and were effective in eroding the trust of the people in relation to these insurgents. As a result of joint operations the government and military of the Philippine are increasingly successful in decreasing the influence and power of the NPA in various areas of Philippine. (Parlade, 2006)