History Archive for Philippine Socialism

Returning Filipino exile Isabelo de los Reyes brought socialism to the Philippines by bringing along socialist, anarchist, and Marxist literature. Two books from this collection — Entre Campesinos and Vida e Obras de Carlos Marx — were used as founding principles for the first labor federation in the country, the Union Obrera Democratica (UOD; Democratic Workers Union).

1906: Excerpt from Banaag at Sikat by Lope K. Santos
Tagalog language novel with socialist themes. Known as the “Bible of working class Filipinos.” Lope K. Santos was a leader of the UOD and its successors.

1913: Dalawang Magbubukid by Errico Malatesta
1913 Tagalog translation of Errico Malatesta's best selling pamphlet Between Peasants and translated from the Spanish translation entitled Entre Campesinos.

The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas and the Huks

In 1930, the COMINTERN-aligned and Marxist-Leninist Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP-1930; Communist Party of the Philippines) was founded with Crisanto A. Evangelista its first general secretary. In 1942, the PKP-1930 founded the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (HUKBALAHAP; People's Anti-Japanese Army; nicknamed “Huk”, plural denonym: “Huks”) to combat the Japanese invaders via guerrilla warfare. After the war, anti-communist violence by the post-independence Philippine regime resulted in a resumption of guerrilla warfare by the Huks who were renamed to the Hukbong Magpapalaya ng Bayan (HMB; People's Liberation Army). To differentiate itself from the younger Communist Party of the Philippines, the PKP-1930 appends “1930” to its abbreviation.

1946: Preamble to Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines by the PKP-1930

1950: Preamble to Constitution and By-Laws of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan by the HMB, the armed wing of the PKP-1930

1950: Establish underground local governments as organs of power and struggle to overthrow imperialist-puppet rule by the PKP-1930

1963: Handbook on the Land Reform Code by Lapiang Manggagawa
A handbook produced by one of the peasant fronts of the PKP-1930.

2018: A Short History of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas by the PKP-1930

2018: Some Notes on the History of the PKP-1930 by the PKP-1930
A timeline of the PKP-1930 from 1930 to 2013.

Radical student movement and the First Quarter Storm

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw an upsurge in student militancy that led to a climax known as the First Quarter Storm (FQS) in the early 1970s. Prominent events during the FQS were the Battle of Mendiola where students fought with state security forces and the Diliman Commune where the students of the University of the Philippines–Diliman staged a spontaneous insurrection that lasted nine days.

1968: Down from the Hill by Jose Luis A. Alcuaz, Gerardo J. Esguerra, Emmanuel A. F. Lacaba, Leonardo Q. Montemayor and Alfredo N. Salanga.
A radical student manifesto from the Ateneo de Manila University. Some of the authors went to become guerrillas themselves.

1971: Bandilang Pula, the bulletin of the Diliman Commune.
Tagalog and English.

1971: UPD Student Council Resolution on the Diliman Commune .
A historic resolution passed by a student council drafted during a student uprising in the Diliman Commune.

Undated: UP Professor's View and Account of the Diliman Commune

The Communist Party of the Philippines and the New Peoples Army

Jose Maria “Joma” Sison led the “re-establishment” of the communist party in an event now known as the First Great Rectification. The new Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was founded under principles of Marxist-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought (MLMZT) which the Party would later change to Marxist-Leninist-Maoism (MLM). The New Peoples Army (NPA) was founded separately but later became the armed wing of the CPP. The CPP leads a united front called the National Democratic Front (NDF). When the CPP and its armed wing are discussed together, they are abbreviated as CPP-NPA. When the CPP, the NPA, and the NDF united front are discussed together, they are abbreviated as CPP-NPA-NDF or in an even more abbreviated form as C/N/N.

1968: Rectify Errors, Rebuild the Party by the Congress of Re-Establishment of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
A founding document of the CPP.

1968: Program for a People's Democratic Revolution by the Congress of Re-Establishment of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
A founding document of the CPP.

1970: Philippine Society and Revolution by Amado Guerrero.
Central theoretical document of national democracy.

1975: Specific Characteristics of Our People's War by Simoun Riple.
Adopted as a “landmark” document of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

1975: Our Urgent Tasks by Amado Guerrero.
Adopted as a “landmark” document of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

1988: Brief Review of the History of the Communist Party of the Philippines by Armando Liwanag.

1991: Reaffirm Our Basic Principles by Armando Liwanag.
Adopted by the 10th Plenum of the Central Committee and a document associated with the Second Great Rectification and the Reaffirmist–Rejectionist Schism.

1992: Stand for Socialism Against Modern Revisionism by Armando Liwanag.
An anti-revisionist polemic.

1993: Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought as Guide to the Philippine Revolution by Armando Liwanag.

2016: Communique of the Second Congress of the Communist Party of the Philippines

“Anti-infiltration” purge campaign

In the 80s, the CPP and its armed wing the NPA led a series of “anti-infiltration” campaigns that led to the torture and deaths of hundreds of their cadres.

1983: Mga Aral Mula sa Naganap na Impiltrasyon sa Hangganang Quezon-Bikol by the Melito Glor Command of the New People’s Army;
Lessons from the Infiltration Incident in the Quezon-Bicol Border, the English translation.

2003: Victims of Communist Party purge seek justice by Juan V. Sarmiento Jr.

2003: CPP purge victim recounts ordeal by Gil Navarro.

National Democracy

The political line of the CPP is known as “national democracy.” national democracy is divided into two general milieus, one underground and the other aboveground. The National Democratic Front (NDF) is revolutionary, illegal, and underground. The aboveground national democratic groups are known as national democratic mass organizations (NDMOs). Aboveground NDMOs share the political line of national democracy with the CPP though are not officially affiliated with the CPP.

National Democratic Front:

The united front and underground government led by the CPP.

1972: Guide for Establishing the People’s Democratic Government by the National Democratic Front.

1994: Constitution of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

1998: The Question of Peace by the National Democratic Front.

2010: The Twelve Points of the NDF Program by the National Democratic Front.

Bulatlatan:

Bulatlatan was an online journal that published dissident perspectives among the rank-and-file in the CPP that ran from 2009–2010. The articles in Bulatlatan seem to document a period of two-line struggle in the CPP and the wider national democracy. Much of the debate seems to be conflict over how the CPP would use their “legal fronts” in parliamentary elections. Part of this two-line struggle seems to be a factional conflict within the Central Committee between Jose Maria “Joma” Sison and the Tiamzons, Benito Tiamzon (Ka Laan) and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon (Ka Bagong-tao).

Bulatlatan index.
This is the general index for articles appearing in Bulatlatan. Below are some notable samples of texts from the journal. More articles can be found in the above index.

2010: Militantly Oppose Right Opportunism and Its Blatant Betrayal of the National Democratic Revolution by Ka Dennie Mapatalang.

2010: Criticize Dogmatism, Build the Broadest United Front and Mobilize the Masses in Their Millions in the 2010 Elections by Banda Kathmandu.

2010: The CPP Bows to Bureaucrat Capitalism by Vincent Wenceslao.

2010: Bombard the Headquarters of the Opportunist Utrecht Mafia! by Ka Rosendo Monteroso.
Denounced the “Utrecht Mafia” led by Jose Maria “Joma” Sison for their electoral strategy, particularly denouncing national democracy's alliance with the bourgeois politician Manny Villar.

Second Great Rectification and the Reaffirmist–Rejectionist Schism

The Second Great Rectification was an anti-revisonist movement within the CPP. The central document of the movement is “Reaffirm.” Those who agreed with “Reaffirm” were referred to as “Reaffirmists” (sometimes “RAs”) while those who rejected it and split with the party are referred to as “Rejectionists” or “RJs”.

Reaffirmist:

1991: Reaffirm Our Basic Principles by Armando Liwanag.
The central document in the Second Great Rectification and the Reaffirmist–Rejectionist Schism and is abbreviated as “Reaffirm.”

1992: Stand for Socialism Against Modern Revisionism by Armando Liwanag.
An anti-revisionist polemic.

Rejectionist:

1992: Resist Authoritarian Tendencies within the Party! Let a Thousand schools of Thought Contend by “Ka Barry.”
Critical comments on the Paper “Reaffirm our Basic Principles and Rectify Errors” by Armando Liwanag calling for more democracy inside the CPP and called for a new Party congress. This party congress did not take place.

1993: Declaration of Autonomy by Party Organizations in the Visayas and presented by the CPP Manila Rizal Regional Committee.
This document, by several Party organs in the Visayas, polemicized against Armando Liwanag and critiqued his authoritarian and “Stalinist” style of leadership and also called for a new Party congress, which also did not take place.

1994: Counter-Theses by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman.
A Marxist-Leninist polemic against the political positions of the CPP. A widely influential document for the Rejectionist tendencies.

1994: PSR: The Semifeudal Alibi for Protracted War by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman.
A critique of Joma Sison's book (under the nom de guerre “Amado Guerrero”) Philippine Society and Revolution, which characterized Philippine society's mode of production as semi-feudal and semi-colonial.

1994: PPDR: Class Line Vs. Mass Line by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman.
A critique of the CPP's “People's Program for a Democratic Revolution,” which laid down its standpoint on the bourgeois democratic revolution and the agrarian question.

1994: PPW: A New-Type Revolution of the Wrong Type by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman.
A critique of Joma Sison's dogma of the armed struggle as the primary form of struggle for the Filipino proletariat, a review of Chinese society and history

1990s: Hinggil sa Taktikal na Islogan Sa Kasalukuyang Sitwasyon “ISLOGAN” by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman.
Tagalog. A Rejectionist position that sums up the history of the communist movement in the Philippines and some steps forward.

Commentary:

1994: Debates on the Philippine Left by John Gershman.
An outsider's view on the Philippine Left.

1999: The Great Left Divide by Alecks P. Pabico.
A investigative journalist study of the Reaffirmist–Rejectionist Schism.

Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP)

The Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP; Filipino Workers’ Party) emerged as a major Rejectionist faction in the Second Great Rectification and is comprised of the merger of the Manila–Rizal Regional Committee (the original PMP), the National United Front Commission (formed the Partido Proletaryo Demokratiko/Democratic Proletarian Party; PPD), and the Paggawa/Socialist Labor Party (SPP, formed from a mix of dissidents from the CPP and from the PKP-1930). The PMP affirms Marxist-Leninism over Maoism and rejects the notion of a protracted people's war. It is believed that the PMP has split into two competing factions with the same name.

90s: Theses by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman.
Tagalog. Popoy Lagman's theses for the construction of a new party and revolutionary strategy.

90s: Reoryentasyon ng Gawaing Pampartido by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman.
Tagalog. Trans: Reorientation of party work.

1999: Workers Manifesto for the New Millennium by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman.
A manifesto written for the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino.

2002: Philippines Left Merger Announcement.
An announcement of the merger of the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP), the Sosyalistang Partido ng Paggawa (SPP) and the Partido Proletaryo Demokratiko (PPD) to form the PMP-Merger.

2002: Programa ng Partido ng Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (Pinagsanib).
Tagalog. The program of the PMP-merger.

2002: Konstitusyon ng Partido ng Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (Pinagsanib).
Tagalog. The constitution of the PMP-merger.

2006: Notes from the Underground by Filemon “Popoy” Lagman et al.
English and Tagalog. A collection of texts, mostly by Popoy Lagman, published by the PMP.

Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa–Pilipinas

The Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa–Pilipinas (RPM-P; Revolutionary Workers Party–Philippines) emerged as a Rejectionist faction in the Second Great Rectification and was formally established on May 1, 1998. The RPM-P affirms Marxist-Leninism over Maoism and rejects the notion of a protracted people's war.

1998: Program of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa–Philippines.
An English translation of the 1998 RPM-P program.

2001: Brief Profile of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa–Philippines.
A profile of the RPM-P in their own words.

2001: History.
Tagalog. An account of the party's history.

2001: [Position papers].
Tagalog and English. Collected documents from the RPM-P's website hosted on Angelfire that details the various lines of the party at the time.

2022: The Philippine Left Milieu, anonymous.
A summation of the Philippine left as of 2022 from the perspective of the RPM-P.