Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930
Communist Party of the Philippines (in Tagalog: Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a communist party in the Philippines. The party was founded in 1930 and is often called PKP-1930 to separate it from its far more known splinter-group, the maoist Communist Party of the Philippines.
The party was established on November 7, 1930 (the anniversary of the October Revolution). The founders of PKP came out of the Progressive Workers Party, which had been established in the 1920s. The PKP was initially headed by Crisanto Evangelista. On October 26, 1932 the PKP was banned by the Phillipine Supreme Court, in which five of the nine judges were American. This caused the PKP to go underground. In late 1932, a legal Marxist party, the Socialist Party, was created. In 1935 PKP was accepted into the Comintern. In 1937 the PKP was legalized again, and in 1938 the Socialist Party was merged into the PKP. The PKP participated in a Popular Front for municipal elections in 1940, which did well on the island of Luzon, where six communist mayors were elected.
Resistance against Japan, then the US
During World War II the PKP helped organize the fight against the Japanese invasion. Under PKP leadership, the Hukbalahap (People's Army against Japan) was created in 1942. The Hukbalahap carried on a struggle against the Japanese occupation for the next three years. After the end of Japanese occupation, the PKP found itself in a considerably strengthened position in the working class and peasant movements. The Congress of Labor Organizations was created in July 1945 under PKP management. In 1946 PKP participated in the presidential elections within the Democratic Alliance. The increasing influence of the PKP in the struggle for national independence was met with a reaction by the US and its mostly wealthy allies in the Philippines. The PKP was repressed, as were other mass worker and peasant organizations.
In 1948, the PKP began an armed struggle against the government. The party was banned that year. In early 1950, the PKP created the People's Liberation Army (Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan) which was made up of about 10,000 soldiers. In October of 1950, the entire secretariat of the Central Committee of the PKP was arrested, including General Secretary Jose Lava (and would remain in prison for the next two decades).
In the course of the armed struggle, PKP and the People's Liberation Army sustained large losses. By the end of 1954 the armed struggle was effectively over, although it took a few more years to die out, after which the PKP pursued a course of peaceful (legal and illegal) action.
Split
What was left of PKP worked from the underground to rebuild itself and affiliated organizations. In 1967, a split developed in this group. The old leadership and its followers was pro-Soviet, while the other, mostly younger faction was oriented towards Maoism. On December 26, 1968, the Maoist faction announced it was re-establishing the Communist Party of the Philippines. Over time the Maoist party has come to eclipse the pro-Soviet party, which is now commonly referred to as PKP-1930. The PKP-1930 survived the martial law as pro-Marcos supporters, offering support for the government, while the Maoist faction continued to fight until today.
PKP-1930 is a minor party today. Today the party is led by Pedro P. Baguisa. PKP-1930 publishes Ang Komunista.
References
- The Philippines: Colonialism, Collaboration, and Resistance! by William J. Pomeroy (ISBN 0717806928)