New People’s Army
Also known as: NPA · Bagong Hukbong Bayan
Definition
The New People’s Army (NPA) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, founded on 29 March 1969 by Jose Maria Sison and former Huk commander Bernabe Buscayno. A Maoist guerrilla force drawing recruits chiefly from the peasantry, it has waged one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies, operating in rural areas across the Philippine archipelago. The government has designated it a terrorist organization under the 2020 Anti-Terrorism Act.
Identities
| Source Type | Identity |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | New People’s Army |
| Wikidata | Q866709 |
| DBpedia | New_People’s_Army |
Also Known As
- NPA
- Bagong Hukbong Bayan
Examples and Analogies
The NPA modeled itself on Mao Zedong’s prescription of a protracted people’s war: like a fish swimming in the “water” of the peasantry, it sought survival through rural mass support rather than holding territory. In Philippine political memory it occupies a position comparable to the FARC in Colombia — a Marxist guerrilla movement simultaneously insurgent force, local power broker, and negotiating partner across successive peace processes.
Usage Scenarios
The NPA is studied in national-security policy and counterinsurgency programs, figures in peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front, participates (through its political arm) in grassroots organizing in some upland communities, and is a regular subject of journalism covering rural conflict and revolutionary taxation.
Strategies
Its strategies include guerrilla warfare, political education and mass organizing in villages, “revolutionary taxation” of businesses, and united-front work through legal organizations. Government counterstrategies combine military operations, local peace engagements, development programs in conflict-affected areas, and localized ceasefires.
Security and Safety Measures
Citizens in conflict-affected areas rely on early-warning systems, military checkpoints, and evacuation plans during armed encounters. The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 criminalizes material support to the NPA, and travel advisories caution against trekking routes with known insurgent presence.
Historical Context
The NPA emerged in 1969 from the remnants of the Hukbalahap movement and the ideological split that produced the reestablished Communist Party of the Philippines. It grew during the Marcos dictatorship, surviving martial law and expanding to most provinces by the 1980s. Peace talks under Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo, Aquino III, and Duterte repeatedly opened and collapsed; Duterte terminated negotiations in 2017 and the designation of the CPP-NPA as terrorists followed in 2020.
Challenges and Controversies
The conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives and displacement in rural communities. Controversies include NPA use of landmines and child recruitment alleged by the state and rights groups, extrajudicial killings of activists tagged as rebels by state forces, the legitimacy of “revolutionary taxation” extortions, and debates over whether localized peace talks can succeed where national negotiations failed.