Borne out of fundamental social problems, the protracted people’s war in the Philippines continues according to a July 2023 study published by ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project), a US-based non-profit organization monitoring conflicts worldwide.
Titled “The Communist Insurgency in the Philippines, A ‘Protracted People’s War’ Continues” the study notes that, “...the strong ideological character of the insurgency seems to ensure an ample supply not only of occasional fighters, but of revolutionaries committed to pursuing their vision for Philippine society long term…”
In April this year, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) admitted “great loss” after losing its top leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon as well as founding chairman and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison. Nevertheless, the CPP reiterated that “the Central Committee and other leading organs of the Party were quickly reconstituted and revitalized.”
Based on the findings of the ACLED study, the continuing guerilla warfare of the New People’s Army (NPA) seems to be the result not only of the revolution’s very design as a protracted people’s war, but also of the persistence of conditions that create impoverished rural communities who embrace the CPP-NPA-NDF’s message of revolutionary change.
ACLED data shows that the NPA is most active in Negros Occidental province in Western Visayas and Bukidnon province in Northern Mindanao, both known for agrarian unrest. As of 2019, Western Visayas had the largest number of persons employed in agriculture in the country at 873,000, while Northern Mindanao ranked third with 776,000 persons employed in agriculture. These deep-seated socio-economic issues in Western Visayas and Northern Mindanao continue to persist against the backdrop of widespread poverty among agriculture workers.
Despite the higher levels of fighting between the NPA and state forces in Western Visayas and Northern Mindanao, fighting between both sides was seen in practically all parts of the country from the start of the Duterte regime and into the Marcos, Jr. administration.
According to the study, this trend implies the presence of NPA guerilla units in every region, mirroring the prevalence of agrarian issues across the country and widespread poverty of agricultural workers. Sometimes, fighting has even spilled over to the cities, with two of 33 cities classified as highly urbanized – Davao City and Butuan City in Mindanao– seeing considerable NPA activity. The data belies pronouncements made by soldiers of the reactionary government claiming the NPA has only one remaining active guerilla front.
The people’s war waged by the CPP-NPA-NDF remains the world’s longest-running armed revolution, continuing to defy military pronouncements of their defeat as they have several times in the past.#