The following is a list of chronological attacks attributed to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and its armed wing the New People's Army (NPA) which is a major participant in the Communist rebellion in the Philippines.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has justified the designation of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as a terrorist organization, citing 1,506 incidents from 2010 to 2020 involving attacks on civilians and military personnel. Brig. Gen. Joel Alejandro Nacnac reported that the CPP-NPA recruited and utilized 544 child soldiers, with some killed, wounded, or abused. The group also carried out 532 attacks on civilian properties, with 2017 recording the highest number. Moreover, the CPP-NPA was responsible for 141 incidents involving anti-personnel mines, causing 224 casualties. "Willful killings" attributed to the group resulted in 373 deaths, with most incidents occurring in 2019. The CPP-NPA is designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries, including the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The AFP supports the Anti-Terrorism Council's resolutions designating 29 individuals as terrorists and aims to enhance counterterrorism efforts. [1]
Attack | Date | Location | Deaths | Injuries | CPP-NPA admitted responsibility | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plaza Miranda bombing | August 21, 1971 | Plaza Miranda, Manila | 9 | 95 | No | Also blamed on the government of President Ferdinand Marcos. An article from The Washington Post alleged that high ranking CPP official said that the bombing was a means to provoke Marcos' administration. CPP founder Jose Maria Sison has denied the communist rebels role in the bombing. | [2] [3] |
1976 logging truck attack | November 22, 1976 | Enroute Mambusao, Davao Oriental | 6 | 3 | No | Suspected communist rebels launched an ambush against a logging truck killing including a municipal police chief. | |
1976 Clark Airbase raid | November 22, 1976 | Pampanga | — | — | No | Suspected communist rebels staged a raid on 5 barrios situated on the perimeter of the Clark Air Base, seizing 43 weapons from the local CHDF militia. | |
Clark Airbase attack | October 28, 1987 | Pampanga | — | 3 | Yes | Militants conducted coordinated attacks near Clark Air Base, killing three U.S. service members. | [4] |
Quezon City attack | April 21, 1989 | Quezon City | — | 1 | Yes | A U.S. Army colonel serving as the chief of the Ground Forces Division of the Joint U.S.-Military Assistance Group was ambushed and killed by militants. | [4] |
Rano massacre | June 25, 1989 | Digos, Davao del Sur | 37–39 | — | Yes | Occurred in a chapel affiliated with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Most of the victims were part of the Ituman anti-communist vigilante group who refused to pay "revolutionary taxes" to the NPA. The NPA accepted responsibility but justified their action as retaliation for previous attacks. | [5] [6] [7] [8] |
Clark Airbase attack | May 13, 1990 | Pampanga | 2 | — | Yes | In an attack near Clark Air Base, militants killed two United States service members. | [4] |
Quezon province attack | November 19 to 25, 2005 | Quezon | several | — | Yes | Attack against Philippine forces killing several soldiers, destroying communication sites, and various government properties | [9] |
Iloilo attack | November 24, 2017 | Maasin, Iloilo | 1 | 10 | Yes | A policeman was killed, and ten others were injured when New People's Army (NPA) rebels ambushed their convoy en route to the Regional Public Safety Battalion in Maasin, Iloilo. | [10] |
2021 Masbate City blast | June 8, 2021 | Masbate City | 2 | 1 | Yes | A bomb, either a landmine, or an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by the NPA to target government forces kills footballer Keith Absalon and his cousin Nolven as they were jogging by. After widespread condemnation, the NPA apologizes for the incident. | [11] [12] [13] [14] |
Borongan attack | December 15, 2021 | Visayas, and Mindanao | several | 3 | Yes | Militants ambushed Philippine civilians and government personnel engaged in humanitarian and disaster response efforts ahead of Typhoon Odette. | [4] |
Masbate attack | August 12, 2022 | Brgy. Bonifacio, Uson, Masbate | — | 3 | Yes | A bomb attack against unarmed civilians causing injuries of a local official and two others | [15] |
Target | Date | Location | CPP-NPA admitted responsibility | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Porferio Branzuela | December 27, 1988 | Plaridel, Misamis Occidental | Yes | Mayor of Calamba, Misamis Occidental. Killed along with a police driver in an ambush. | [16] |
James Rowe | 1989 | Quezon City | Yes | American colonel working with the Joint US Military Advisory Group. He and his driver were attacked while en route to Rowe's workplace for being directly involved in the counter-insurgency. | [17] [18] [19] [20] |
Javier Hizon | January 5, 1990 | Mexico, Pampanga | Yes | Mayor of Mexico. Killed along with a police officer as he left his workplace. | [21] |
Conrado Balweg | December 31, 1999 | Malibcong, Abra | Yes | Former NPA member and Cordillera People’s Liberation Army leader. Killed at his residence due to "crimes against the Cordilleran people and the Revolutionary Movement" and his role in splitting the communist movement in the Cordilleras | [22] |
Carlito Pentecostes Jr. | April 21, 2014 | Gonzaga, Cagayan | Yes | Mayor of Gonzaga. Killed in front of the municipal hall after a flag-raising ceremony for his alleged role in the arrest of a rebel leader and for supporting black sand mining in his town. [23] | |
Mario Okinlay | 2014 | Impasugong, Bukidnon | Yes | Mayor of Impasugong. Killed in a roadside ambush for supporting the government's counter-insurgency program. | [24] |
The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeois reactionary puppet government" and to aid in the "people's democratic revolution". Founded on March 29, 1969, by the collaboration of Jose Maria Sison and former members of the Hukbalahap led by Bernabe Buscayno, the NPA has since waged a guerrilla war based on the Maoist strategy of protracted people's war. The NPA is one of the key figures in the ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines, the longest ongoing conflict in the country.
The Communist Party of the Philippines is a far-left, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968.
Terrorism is a major social issue in the Philippines linked to the Moro conflict and the communist rebellion. The country ranks in 18th place on the Global Terrorism Index's 2023 list of countries most affected by terrorism.
The Plaza Miranda bombing occurred during a political rally of the Liberal Party at Plaza Miranda, Quiapo district, Manila, the Philippines on August 21, 1971. It caused nine deaths and injured 95 others, including many prominent Liberal Party politicians.
The New People's Army rebellion is an ongoing conflict between the government of the Philippines and the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It is the most prominent communist armed conflict in the Philippines, with more than 43,000 insurgency-related fatalities between 1969 and 2008. It is also one of the longest ongoing communist insurgencies in the world.
1987 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1987.
1988 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1988.
The history of communist armed conflicts in the Philippines is closely related to the history of Communism in the Philippines, with various armed conflict linked to the armed wings of the various communist organizations that have evolved since 1930. The two largest conflicts have been the Hukbalahap Rebellion of 1942–1954, and the ongoing rebellion of the New People's Army, which began in 1969 under the auspices of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). But various splinter groups have since separated from the CPP and have had a history of armed conflict with the Philippine government since then.
The following is the timeline of events of CPP-NPA-NDF rebellion, a conflict between the government of the Philippines, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People's Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front (NDF).
This timeline contains the events of the communist rebellion of the year 2016.
The Second Great Rectification Movement refers to a 1992 ideological campaign initiated by the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) wherein an effort was made to "identify, repudiate and rectify the errors of urban insurrectionism, premature big formations of the New People's Army and anti-infiltration hysteria". The rectification movement resulted in the once monolithic Filipino communist party fragmenting into at least eight warring factions during the 1990s.
Benito Tiamzon was a Filipino political organizer and until his arrest in March 2014 by Philippine security forces, was believed to be the Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA).
In the Philippines, red-tagging is the labeling of individuals or organizations as communists, subversives, or terrorists, regardless of their actual political beliefs or affiliations. It is a type of harassment and has pernicious effects on its targets. Red-tagging has been practiced by security forces, government officials and shills.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is a task force organized by the government of the Philippines in 2018 as part of its "Whole-of-Nation approach" to respond to and raise awareness about ongoing communist armed conflicts in the Philippines, after the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte formally terminated peace talks between the Philippine government and the New People's Army in November 2017.
Keith Absalon, a collegiate footballer who played for the FEU Tamaraws in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and his cousin, Nolven, were killed when they ran over an explosive, reportedly a landmine or an improvised explosive device, that was set up by the New People's Army (NPA) in June 2021 in Masbate City, Philippines.
Antonio Gumba Parlade Jr. is a former Filipino military officer who retired as commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Southern Luzon Command in 2021, and was best known for his combative terms as spokesman for the Philippine Army before he was removed from that post in 2011, and later, as spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
The Rano massacre, also known as the Digos massacre, refers to the aftermath of an incident which occurred in the village of Rano in Digos, Davao del Sur on June 25, 1989 which resulted to the death of 39 people. The New People's Army claimed responsibility for the deaths but insisted that anti-communist vigilantes among the victims fired at them first.
In August 2022, a motorboat carrying rebels of the New People's Army exploded in Catbalogan, Samar. The explosion killed the passengers including NPA leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon.