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Philippines Political Organizing and Front Groups
The CPP's efforts to broaden its grass-roots political
support were based on the party cadres' systematic organization
of support at the village level. The communists' network of
barangay cells provided for the NPA's physical support and
made the communists a potent political movement. Typically, a
small band of CPP and NPA organizers first conducted a "social
investigation" of a targeted barangay and identified key
leaders and major sources of discontent. The cadres mixed with
the people and gained their confidence by lending assistance,
such as help in harvesting crops or in providing rudimentary
medical care. Later, in a series of well-established steps, they
set up an organizing committee and front groups representing
peasants, youth, and others. Eventually, the organizing committee
became the barrio revolutionary committee, the fundamental
element of the communists' shadow government. The CPP's
methodology for organizing barangays clearly had been
successful.
Through the country, the communists' National United Front
Commission operated a wide variety of front groups designed to
draw legal left-wing organizations and sympathetic individuals
into collaboration with the CPP. As part of this alliancebuilding program directed mainly at the "middle forces," the CPP
maintained fronts targeted at labor, students, intellectuals,
church workers, human rights groups, women, businessmen, and
peasants, as well as umbrella political fronts. In some cases,
these fronts were widely recognized as communist-controlled, and
the party had difficulty attracting and keeping partners because
of its dominance. In other instances, the CPP's influence was not
as obvious, and fronts operated with greater outside
participation and some autonomy. In general, the front groups
prospered in the mid-1980s as a result of growing opposition to
the Marcos government. Aquino's more popular presidency, however,
frustrated the CPP's efforts to sustain and build on its legal
and quasi-legal partnerships with "cause-oriented" groups.
The CPP's principal political front was the National
Democratic Front. Many of the party's other fronts--such as those
aimed at the students and the church--operated under the broad
National Democratic Front umbrella. Founded in April 1973, the
front emphasized nationalist themes over communist ideology in
order to attract broader participation. Because its strong links
to the CPP were recognized, however, the National Democratic
Front remained underground. As a result, the CPP moved in May
1985 to establish another, even broader front, the New
Nationalist Alliance (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan--BAYAN). Many of
the CPP's other fronts quickly affiliated with the new political
umbrella group. Although Bayan's founders included many wellknown non-communists, the CPP's early move to take control of
BAYAN's council and agenda resulted in numerous defections.
The radicalization of elements in the Catholic Church
beginning in the late 1960s provided another avenue for the
expansion of CPP front operations. Recognizing how the church's
unparalleled credibility and extensive infrastructure could
benefit the revolution, the communists made the Catholic Church a
primary target. The party established a front, Christians for
National Liberation, in 1972 with the express purpose of
penetrating the church. In 1986 an activist claimed that
Christians for National Liberation had a clandestine membership
of over 3,000 clergy and layworkers. Radical clergy and church
activists, many adopting
liberation theology (see Glossary),
supported the insurgency in a variety of ways. Some church
activities even provided facilities and financial and logistical
support to the guerrillas. Other church activists joined the NPA,
and several well-known priests led guerrilla bands. As a result,
the armed forces became deeply distrustful of the church's role,
especially in remote rural areas where the NPA was most active.
There, some of the Church's Basic Christian Communities--support
groups for poor peasants--fell under communist control.
Another prominent target of CPP front operations was the
workers' movement
(see Employment and Labor Relations
, ch. 3).
The communists' flagship labor front was the Kilusang Mayo Uno
(May First Movement--KMU). An umbrella organization formed in
1980, the KMU claimed 19 affiliated labor federations, hundreds
of unions, and 650,000 workers in 1989. Although it denied its
ties to the CPP, the movement had an openly political and
revolutionary agenda. As one of the country's largest labor
groups, it played a prominent role in the anti-Marcos movement.
However, the KMU-led general strikes during the Aquino
administration sometimes turned violent. Peasant farmers were the
target of another CPP-sponsored front, the Peasant Movement of
the Philippines (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas). Established
in 1985, this movement claimed 500,000 members and 2 million
supporters for its agenda, which revolved around land reform.
Data as of June 1991
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