Our main problem in this country is the problem of social justice.
How are we to ensure that in this country whoever can work and wishes to work will find work, and will receive just compensation for his work, so that he can support himself and his family by his work as befits the basic needs and dignity of human beings?
How we are to ensure that the leadership elite of this country will have an effective concern for the basic needs of the vast majority of our people, and will employ the vast resources of which they have effective control not in wasteful consumption, but in constructive agricultural and industrial development beneficial not to a few but to all.
In short: how are we to establish in this country, so long exploited by both foreign and native oppressors, a society of justice and peace, based on cordial cooperation among all ranks and levels?
To this crucial question the Communist Party of the Philippines had a clear and definite reply; a set of goal, a plan, and a timetable.
We think that their reply was, and is, the wrong reply. We think that it solves our present problems only by creating bigger problem, which will be, in the end, insoluble.
Nevertheless, I personally think that the Communist had certain insights into our problems, which would be of value to us in framing a more constructive solution.
That is why I think it imperative that all of us, citizens of this country, should make a serious study of the history of Communism in the Philippines, with view to finding out what is right and what is wrong with the Communist solution to our national problems.
The present work by my good friend Alfredo B. Saulo will help us to make this study.
I do not commend it those who are antecedently committed simply to the acquisition or retention of power. I do not commend it to those who are antecedently committed to class warfare instead of class cooperation.
I commend it to all the citizens of this country who are interested in and committed to the preservation of the unity of our nation, and its development along the lines of justice and peace.
HORACIO DE LA COSTA,SJ
Xavier House, 28 February 1969
Tarlac, Jose Maria Sison, the young faculty member of the University of the Philippines, was elected general secretary of the reconstituted CPP.
True enough, it is a one-man era, but it promises to the most colorful, action- and achievement-filled era in the history of the Philippines communism. Already, the New People's Army, which was founded on 29 March 1969, anticipates a "stalemate" in its current confrontation with the government forces in the foreseeable future, with the CPP playing a dominant role.
The present enlarged edition describes the actual state of communism in the Philippines after the passing away of the Lava "era," including ideological splits between the CPP (Lava) and CPP (Sison) reminiscent of the Red versus White Flag communist parties in Burma, the ensuing three-cornered "word" war among Lava, Taruc and Sison, and the rifts involving their mass organizations.
It should be noted that shortly after Jesus Lava was captured by government agents on 21 May 1964, in Sampaloc Manila, he announced that he had previously designated Pedro Taruc, a near relative of former Huk supremo Luis M. Taruc, as the new secretary general of the CPP. He was assisted by Faustino del Mundo; alias Commander Sumulong, as second in command of the communist organization.
Likewise two years before his capture, Lava scuttled the policy of armed struggle in favor of the legal and parliamentary struggle. This means a sort of victory for Luis M. Taruc, who as early as September 1952 had issued a "Call for Peace," a memorandum urging that the party adopt a tactical shift from armed to legal and parliamentary struggle in line with the growing world movement for peaceful coexistence. But Lava, who was at the time with the five-man secretariat holed up in Laguna sector Sierra Madre, peremptorily dismissed Taruc's "peace" memo, calling it a "policy of surrender," a "liquidationist policy," an abandonment of the revolution.
Meanwhile in February-March 1954, the government launched the wide raging "Operation Milagrosa," involving more that 20,000 army troops, resulting in the death or capture of many top political and military cadres of the party. Expelled from the part as a consequences of his rift with the secretariat, Taruc surrendered on 16 May 1954 through the intervention of a young Manila Times reporter, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr.
It would seem that the party's UG (Underground) work proceeded with much success after the junking of the policy of armed struggle in 1956. On 16 March 1961, a student organization called SCAUP (Student Cultural Association, University of the Philippines) caught nationwide attention when it held a rally in protest against witch-hunting of nationalist and progressive-minded professors in the state university. This rally was described as "the first of its kind" in the Philippines. Jose Maria Sison, probably a junior A.B. student in the State University, was believed to have a hand in the organization of SCAUP. A few months later SCAUP evolved into the ALSA (Alliance for Socialist Advance), its own national version, aimed at preparing the workers and other democratic elements for the building of a new social order. This indicated, according to military intelligence, the growing radicalization of Sison.
What was the status of Sison at this time? Was he a mere student activist with socialist orientation? A "slip" in the searing, sizzling ongoing "word" (better still, cuss) war among Lava, Taruc and Sison revealed that Sison was already under the influence of the CPP (Lava) when he organize the Kabataang Makabayan (KM) on 30 November 1964. In fact, it is claimed that the founding of the KM on the birthday anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, the real national hero as far as U.P. studentry is concerned, was a "party assignment" of Sison.
In 1966, by his own admission, Sison went to Indonesia to "study the Indonesian language and literature in an institute sponsored by the UNESCO (United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization). Upon his return to the Philippines, he was elected general secretary of MAN (Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism), at a two-day congress, 7-8 February 1967, held at the auditorium of the National Library. The president of MAN was Senator Lorenzo M. Tanada. It is not clear whether Sison's participation in MAN was also part of his party assignment. However, he was clearly a man on the go, for three months later on 1 May 1967, he was elected first deputy chairman of the SPP (Social Party of the Philippines) headed by Atty. Ignacio P. Lacsina, and which had absorbed the "Lapiang Manggagawa" of which Sison was also a vice-president.
Although the youthful Sison was chalking up one responsible job after another in the movement, he probably felt that he was always moving under the shadow of the CPP (Lava). He couldn’t get away from the shadow nor from its "pressure." Finally, his endurance reached a breaking point when he resigned from the party's "Provisional Central Committee." But the CPP (Lava) allegedly rejected his resignation and expelled him from the party. This left Sison free, absolutely free from all encumbrances, free to pursue his dream of a new social order as when he organized the SCAUP, the ALSA, then the KM, then the SPP, and so on. Having gone underground after his expulsion from the party, Sison proceeded to Tarlac province, eventually meeting a breakaway band of roving dissidents under Commander Dante. They decided to hold a "Congress of Re-establishment" starting on 26 December 1968, and ending on 7 January 1969. A new, more aggressive and dynamic CPP-Mao Tse -tung thought was born, coinciding with Mao's seventy-fifth anniversary. Since then, Jose Maria Sison, the University of the Philippines most eminent contribution to the rebel movement, has been Philippine communism's man in the saddle.
PREFACE
This pamphlet is intended as a primer on communism in the Philippines. It was publish serially in Manila Times and Taliba, the Philippines two-leading English and Tagalog dailies, respectively, from 23 January to 4 February 1969.
To be sure; similar works on the same subject have appeared in the past, but these have been based for the most part on secondary source. In addition, some authors have approached the subject with frame of mind that simply cannot see anything good within communism either as an ideology or as a way of life. Consequently, their works provide little objective help in under-standing communism in the Philippines.
The author of this work has the singular advantage of knowing Philippine communism from the long personal experience with communist-led Huk movement in Central and Southern Luzon. He stayed "in the field" for eight years (1950-1958), and lived with leaders and rank and file of the movement, sharing with them their most intimate thoughts an aspiration, their suffering and indescribable sacrifices for their cause.
I would not be correct to say that the communists and their Huk followers have been fighting for the past 27 years solely for the communist cause. The author has found out that communism in the Philippines, as in all developing countries freed from the yoke of colonialism, is still in the nationalist phase of development. The local communist movement, indeed, cannot just skip this preliminary phase and go to full blast into communism.
We think that their reply was, and is, the wrong reply. We think that it solves our present problems only by creating bigger problem, which will be, in the end, insoluble.
Nevertheless, I personally think that the Communist had certain insights into our problems, which would be of value to us in framing a more constructive solution.
That is why I think it imperative that all of us, citizens of this country, should make a serious study of the history of Communism in the Philippines, with view to finding out what is right and what is wrong with the Communist solution to our national problems.
The present work by my good friend Alfredo B. Saulo will help us to make this study.
I do not commend it those who are antecedently committed simply to the acquisition or retention of power. I do not commend it to those who are antecedently committed to class warfare instead of class cooperation.
I commend it to all the citizens of this country who are interested in and committed to the preservation of the unity of our nation, and its development along the lines of justice and peace.
HORACIO DE LA COSTA,SJ
Xavier House, 28 February 1969
Tarlac, Jose Maria Sison, the young faculty member of the University of the Philippines, was elected general secretary of the reconstituted CPP.
True enough, it is a one-man era, but it promises to the most colorful, action- and achievement-filled era in the history of the Philippines communism. Already, the New People's Army, which was founded on 29 March 1969, anticipates a "stalemate" in its current confrontation with the government forces in the foreseeable future, with the CPP playing a dominant role.
The present enlarged edition describes the actual state of communism in the Philippines after the passing away of the Lava "era," including ideological splits between the CPP (Lava) and CPP (Sison) reminiscent of the Red versus White Flag communist parties in Burma, the ensuing three-cornered "word" war among Lava, Taruc and Sison, and the rifts involving their mass organizations.
It should be noted that shortly after Jesus Lava was captured by government agents on 21 May 1964, in Sampaloc Manila, he announced that he had previously designated Pedro Taruc, a near relative of former Huk supremo Luis M. Taruc, as the new secretary general of the CPP. He was assisted by Faustino del Mundo; alias Commander Sumulong, as second in command of the communist organization.
Likewise two years before his capture, Lava scuttled the policy of armed struggle in favor of the legal and parliamentary struggle. This means a sort of victory for Luis M. Taruc, who as early as September 1952 had issued a "Call for Peace," a memorandum urging that the party adopt a tactical shift from armed to legal and parliamentary struggle in line with the growing world movement for peaceful coexistence. But Lava, who was at the time with the five-man secretariat holed up in Laguna sector Sierra Madre, peremptorily dismissed Taruc's "peace" memo, calling it a "policy of surrender," a "liquidationist policy," an abandonment of the revolution.
Meanwhile in February-March 1954, the government launched the wide raging "Operation Milagrosa," involving more that 20,000 army troops, resulting in the death or capture of many top political and military cadres of the party. Expelled from the part as a consequences of his rift with the secretariat, Taruc surrendered on 16 May 1954 through the intervention of a young Manila Times reporter, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr.
It would seem that the party's UG (Underground) work proceeded with much success after the junking of the policy of armed struggle in 1956. On 16 March 1961, a student organization called SCAUP (Student Cultural Association, University of the Philippines) caught nationwide attention when it held a rally in protest against witch-hunting of nationalist and progressive-minded professors in the state university. This rally was described as "the first of its kind" in the Philippines. Jose Maria Sison, probably a junior A.B. student in the State University, was believed to have a hand in the organization of SCAUP. A few months later SCAUP evolved into the ALSA (Alliance for Socialist Advance), its own national version, aimed at preparing the workers and other democratic elements for the building of a new social order. This indicated, according to military intelligence, the growing radicalization of Sison.
What was the status of Sison at this time? Was he a mere student activist with socialist orientation? A "slip" in the searing, sizzling ongoing "word" (better still, cuss) war among Lava, Taruc and Sison revealed that Sison was already under the influence of the CPP (Lava) when he organize the Kabataang Makabayan (KM) on 30 November 1964. In fact, it is claimed that the founding of the KM on the birthday anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, the real national hero as far as U.P. studentry is concerned, was a "party assignment" of Sison.
In 1966, by his own admission, Sison went to Indonesia to "study the Indonesian language and literature in an institute sponsored by the UNESCO (United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization). Upon his return to the Philippines, he was elected general secretary of MAN (Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism), at a two-day congress, 7-8 February 1967, held at the auditorium of the National Library. The president of MAN was Senator Lorenzo M. Tanada. It is not clear whether Sison's participation in MAN was also part of his party assignment. However, he was clearly a man on the go, for three months later on 1 May 1967, he was elected first deputy chairman of the SPP (Social Party of the Philippines) headed by Atty. Ignacio P. Lacsina, and which had absorbed the "Lapiang Manggagawa" of which Sison was also a vice-president.
Although the youthful Sison was chalking up one responsible job after another in the movement, he probably felt that he was always moving under the shadow of the CPP (Lava). He couldn’t get away from the shadow nor from its "pressure." Finally, his endurance reached a breaking point when he resigned from the party's "Provisional Central Committee." But the CPP (Lava) allegedly rejected his resignation and expelled him from the party. This left Sison free, absolutely free from all encumbrances, free to pursue his dream of a new social order as when he organized the SCAUP, the ALSA, then the KM, then the SPP, and so on. Having gone underground after his expulsion from the party, Sison proceeded to Tarlac province, eventually meeting a breakaway band of roving dissidents under Commander Dante. They decided to hold a "Congress of Re-establishment" starting on 26 December 1968, and ending on 7 January 1969. A new, more aggressive and dynamic CPP-Mao Tse -tung thought was born, coinciding with Mao's seventy-fifth anniversary. Since then, Jose Maria Sison, the University of the Philippines most eminent contribution to the rebel movement, has been Philippine communism's man in the saddle.
PREFACE
This pamphlet is intended as a primer on communism in the Philippines. It was publish serially in Manila Times and Taliba, the Philippines two-leading English and Tagalog dailies, respectively, from 23 January to 4 February 1969.
To be sure; similar works on the same subject have appeared in the past, but these have been based for the most part on secondary source. In addition, some authors have approached the subject with frame of mind that simply cannot see anything good within communism either as an ideology or as a way of life. Consequently, their works provide little objective help in under-standing communism in the Philippines.
The author of this work has the singular advantage of knowing Philippine communism from the long personal experience with communist-led Huk movement in Central and Southern Luzon. He stayed "in the field" for eight years (1950-1958), and lived with leaders and rank and file of the movement, sharing with them their most intimate thoughts an aspiration, their suffering and indescribable sacrifices for their cause.
I would not be correct to say that the communists and their Huk followers have been fighting for the past 27 years solely for the communist cause. The author has found out that communism in the Philippines, as in all developing countries freed from the yoke of colonialism, is still in the nationalist phase of development. The local communist movement, indeed, cannot just skip this preliminary phase and go to full blast into communism.
What transient observers may find hard to understand is the fact that Filipino communists themselves do not believe that they still see communism fully established in the Philippines in their own lifetime. The belief is not defeatist but realistic and is rooted in the practical experience of the Soviet Union which, after 52 years of uninterrupted communist rule, is still far from achieving full-fledged communism. Technically, Russia today is a socialist, not communist, state.
Nationalism is the most overriding imperative for communism in the Philippine today. Filipino communists advocate nationalism-and indeed the mean it-to lay the groundwork for the establishment of socialism, the transition stage to communism proper. To say, then, that they are merely ridings on the crest of nationalism or using it to serve their communist ends would be great mistake. Filipino communist, it must be bone in mind, are nationalists by force of necessity. It is precisely their communist ideology that compels them to be sincere and militant nationalist even to the exclusion of all other persuasion and loyalties.
A ranking Filipinos communist leader once said that he would not hesitate to fight the Russians or Chinese if they should ever come and invade the Philippines. However, another communist leader, to forestall a possible apostasy and to safeguard the communist principle of international solidarity of the working class, hastened to add that the Russian or Chinese communists would never come to dominate or colonize their Filipino brothers.
An enlightened national policy would do well to take into account this manifestation of nationalism by Filipino communist-something that has escaped the attention of not a few observers. During the last world war Filipino communist guerillas temporarily set aside the communist ideology to effect a united front with all anti-Japanese elements of the population, including some big landlords. Their nationalism, then, has passed the acid test of a global war.
This wartime record of cooperation by Filipino communist with other social group or classes should provide a valuable insight into the communist problem. National interest demands that the government tap all sources of nationalism to provide the motive force necessary to carry out what is called the "task of movement": the task of building a truly independent, strong and viable Filipino nation. Viewed in this light, the communist problem cease to pose a serious threat to national security and instead becomes a challenge to the patriotism, integrity and high resolve of Filipino leaders and the people in general.
The communist problem, of course, is not a simple and easy as all that. It requires, besides statesmanship of the highest order, a most painstaking study of communism-its history, principle and practices, its strategy and tactics, and its manifold variations and nuance dictated by the imperatives of time, place and circumstance. No single book can provide the answer to every question raised by and about communism. Indeed, one would require a whole library of Marxist books to get that feeling of self-confidence necessary in tackling the communist problem.
This brief introduction to Philippine communism may be likened to the first step in a journey of thousand miles. It is in this sense that this work is being offered to the readers, especially students and professionals, who have come to realize that a working knowledge of the Philippine communism an essential intellectual equipment of every educated Filipino.
The author is indebted to many colleagues and friend in the preparation and publication of this work. Acknowledgement is due to the very Rev. Fr. Horacio de la Costa, S.J., Provincial of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus, (PPPSJ); to the Very Rev.Fr. Pacifico A. Ortiz, S.J., and new Rector and President of the Ateneo de Manila University, who asked the author for a complete file of the Manila Times containing the series on Philippine communism, saying he would "sit up one night and read the whole thing" when he could get away from his seemingly endless tasks at the administration building; and Prof. Rolando N. Quintos, Chairman of the Ateneo Department of History, for the many interesting exchanges of ideas of communism and for the university time consumed by the author in making his research and writing this pamphlet.
Mr. Joaquin P. Roces, publisher and general manager of the Manila Times Publishing Company, gave the author the "go signal" to secure the copyright for the communism series after its publication in the Manila Times and in Taliba. Mr. Jose Luna Castro, editor of the Times, went over manuscript and offered some valuable suggestions.
Nationalism is the most overriding imperative for communism in the Philippine today. Filipino communists advocate nationalism-and indeed the mean it-to lay the groundwork for the establishment of socialism, the transition stage to communism proper. To say, then, that they are merely ridings on the crest of nationalism or using it to serve their communist ends would be great mistake. Filipino communist, it must be bone in mind, are nationalists by force of necessity. It is precisely their communist ideology that compels them to be sincere and militant nationalist even to the exclusion of all other persuasion and loyalties.
A ranking Filipinos communist leader once said that he would not hesitate to fight the Russians or Chinese if they should ever come and invade the Philippines. However, another communist leader, to forestall a possible apostasy and to safeguard the communist principle of international solidarity of the working class, hastened to add that the Russian or Chinese communists would never come to dominate or colonize their Filipino brothers.
An enlightened national policy would do well to take into account this manifestation of nationalism by Filipino communist-something that has escaped the attention of not a few observers. During the last world war Filipino communist guerillas temporarily set aside the communist ideology to effect a united front with all anti-Japanese elements of the population, including some big landlords. Their nationalism, then, has passed the acid test of a global war.
This wartime record of cooperation by Filipino communist with other social group or classes should provide a valuable insight into the communist problem. National interest demands that the government tap all sources of nationalism to provide the motive force necessary to carry out what is called the "task of movement": the task of building a truly independent, strong and viable Filipino nation. Viewed in this light, the communist problem cease to pose a serious threat to national security and instead becomes a challenge to the patriotism, integrity and high resolve of Filipino leaders and the people in general.
The communist problem, of course, is not a simple and easy as all that. It requires, besides statesmanship of the highest order, a most painstaking study of communism-its history, principle and practices, its strategy and tactics, and its manifold variations and nuance dictated by the imperatives of time, place and circumstance. No single book can provide the answer to every question raised by and about communism. Indeed, one would require a whole library of Marxist books to get that feeling of self-confidence necessary in tackling the communist problem.
This brief introduction to Philippine communism may be likened to the first step in a journey of thousand miles. It is in this sense that this work is being offered to the readers, especially students and professionals, who have come to realize that a working knowledge of the Philippine communism an essential intellectual equipment of every educated Filipino.
The author is indebted to many colleagues and friend in the preparation and publication of this work. Acknowledgement is due to the very Rev. Fr. Horacio de la Costa, S.J., Provincial of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus, (PPPSJ); to the Very Rev.Fr. Pacifico A. Ortiz, S.J., and new Rector and President of the Ateneo de Manila University, who asked the author for a complete file of the Manila Times containing the series on Philippine communism, saying he would "sit up one night and read the whole thing" when he could get away from his seemingly endless tasks at the administration building; and Prof. Rolando N. Quintos, Chairman of the Ateneo Department of History, for the many interesting exchanges of ideas of communism and for the university time consumed by the author in making his research and writing this pamphlet.
Mr. Joaquin P. Roces, publisher and general manager of the Manila Times Publishing Company, gave the author the "go signal" to secure the copyright for the communism series after its publication in the Manila Times and in Taliba. Mr. Jose Luna Castro, editor of the Times, went over manuscript and offered some valuable suggestions.
The author extends to them his thanks.
Mr. Manuel E. Valdehuesa, Jr., director of the Ateneo Publication Office, was very generous with his advice which would be helpful of Filipino authors. When Mr. Valdehuesa was not around, his assistant director, Mrs. Gloria V. Sevilla, pinch-hit for him with admirable expertise. The members of their staff, from the editor to the last typist and bookbinder, likewise deserve the author's appreciation.
1THE PARTY'S ORIGIN AND ROLE
The COMMUNIST PARTY of the Philippines (CPP) is today's looming question mark. It was declared illegal and outlawed under Republic Act No.1700, otherwise known as the Anti-Survertion Law, in 1957, but nobody can say definitely whether the party is now dead or merely biding its time. However, one thing is certain: while the CPP may be, to all intents and purposes, nonexistent, the communist movement is very much alive.
One does not require extraordinary perception to se the party's influence in the thinking not only of the youth and workers but also of government officials. When some members of the Congress recently urged the opening of trade relations with the communist countries in Eastern Europe, they were unwittingly reviving and supporting the stand taken by the CPP almost a generation ago. As early as 1946, soon after the grant (or restoration) of the Philippine independence, the party batted for the immediate opening of the trade and diplomatic relations with all (including communist) countries.
DEMONSTRATION
In a recent demonstration stage by students at the American Embassy in Manila, some placards carried demands for the abrogation of "parity" rights to Americans and the withdrawal of the United States military bases in the Philippines. These, in fact, were the very same demands made by the communist many years ago, long before the late Sen. Claro M. Recto articulated them in speeches and statement to the press.
The workers and employees, too, in demanding higher wages and better working conditions, equal pay for equal work for men and women, regardless of race or color, are voicing the same grievances aired by communist many times before. But to call the demonstrators communists or communist dupes would be ludicrous, because their grievances have little or nothing to do with the furtherance of communism as an ideology.
THE CPP'S ATTRACTIONS
The CPP is a unique and durable party. It has been outlawed twice, first in 1932 and again in 1957, but the party has taken all this in stride. It is extremely doubtful if the CPP can be legislated out of existence. All the important communist leaders have been place behind bars, but there is no doubt that communism continues to win adherents, especially from the ranks of the alienated: people disenchanted and disgusted with unfulfilled promises of public officials, fed up with government graft and corruption, impatient with police inability to curb the rising crime wave, furious with the growing unemployment and the widening gap between the rich and poor, and, finally distraught with the failure of priests and laity alike to live up to the teaching of Christianity.
Unlike other political parties, the CPP is active at all times, election or no election, under any conceivable situation, legal or illegal. Its cadres proselytize and propagate communist ideas in the cities and in the countryside. The party's goal remains the same: to capture state power. This is the task to which communist have pledged their lives and their fortune, no matter how long it may take to accomplish.
The communists can wait; after all, so they claim, they are not building for a day but for the next thousand years. They are supremely confident that "history" is on their side, and that theirs will be the final victory.
It is this peculiar, intransigent thinking of the communist, which will not disappear regardless of reverses, that makes the present survey of the Philippines communism-its historical background, origin, rise and "temporary" eclipse-one of great relevance to the Filipino people.
TWO REVOLUTIONS
The CPP was organized 26 August 1930, but it had to wait for more than two months before it was officially proclaimed on 7 November 1930. The two dates - 26 August, and 7 November - are "sacred" to Filipino communists. Evidently, the Communist "founding fathers" had so designed that the CPP should symbolize the spirit of two significant revolutions in our time: the Philippine and Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution.
The Philippine Revolution was launched on 26 August 1896 - some historians claim it happened three days earlier-when Andres Bonifacio and his Katipunan followers tore their cedulas in the now-famous "Cry of Balintawak" (other call it "Cry of Pugad Lawin"), and swore to fight by whatever means at their disposal until the hated Spanish regime was overthrown.
The Russian Revolution, on the other hand, is officially known to have climaxed on 7November (25 October in the Old Russian calendar) 1917.
The Philippine Revolution was a nationalist revolution, the first in Asia, while the Russian Revolution was a communist-led working class revolution, the first in the history of mankind.
In trying to bridge the two revolutions, the CPP would seem to emphasize both the nationalist and proletarian character of its revolutionary struggle.
It is significant to note that the party was organized in the Templo Del Trabajo (literally Temple of Labor), doubtless the most important gathering place for labor elements in the city early 30's. It was proclaimed at Plaza Moriones, Tondo, and the heartland of Manila's working-class district.
THE PROLETARIAN HERO
In the official history of the CPP written by Jose Lava, former general secretary of the party, and in other communist documents, one comes across frequent references to Bonifacio as the foremost Filipino hero.
Bonifacio, in the 1930 constitution of the CPP, is described as a "real son of sweat." Filipino communists, in fact, consider their revolutionary struggle as a continuation of the "unfinished" revolution" started by the Great Plebeian.
The CPP of course cannot claim that the revolution, though led by Bonifacio, was already a proletarian revolution. Lava himself concedes that it was merely a "bourgeois-democratic-colonial" revolution whose objectives include (1) emancipation from Spanish domination, (2) confiscation and distribution of the friar lands to landless farmers, and (3) establishment of a democratic republic.
But the party's 1930 constitution takes occasion to denounce the alleged betrayal of the revolution by the "burgesses," referring to the illustrados or middle-class intellectuals who allegedly "sold out" at the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. And the Philippine-American WAR that followed the revolution against Spain, a number of bourgeois elements belonging to the Cuerpo de Compromisarios broke away from the Katipunan and shifted their allegiance to the Americans.
It was not until 1938, in the constitution of the new CPP representing the merger of the Communist and Socialist parties, that the part began to accord due recognition to non-proletarian elements like Burgos, Rizal, Luna and other martyrs and heroes of our Philippine Revolution.
DEBT TO AN ILUSTRADO
Notwithstanding is sharp proletarian bias, the CPP cannot fail to acknowledge its great indebtedness to another ilustrado, Isabelo De Los Reyes, who was imprisoned for his involvement in the revolution and later exiled to Barcelona, Spain.
It was in the dark dungeon of the Muntjuich Castle in Barcelona that De Los Reyes met Francisco Ferrer y Guardia, the anarchist-syndicalist whose revolutionary activities included the sacking and burning of 400 Spanish Catholic churches.
It was from Ferrer, according to a recent historical study, that De Los Reyes got the idea of founding the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, headed by the schismatic Gregorio Aglipay and the Union Obrera Democratica (UOD), the first labor federation in the Philippines.
De Los Reyes was released from prison after the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato on 15 December 1897, but did not return immediately to the Philippines. Instead, he worked with other Filipino expatriates in Spain and France for the cause of Philippine Independence. He wrote extensive propaganda tracts and published several books and pamphlets which he later sent to the Philippines.
SOCIALIST LITERATURE
He must have gained great prominence through his writings and revolutionary activities for, in March 1901, following the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela, Gen. Miguel Malvar, taking command of the remaining forces in Luzon, appointed De Los Reyes, then in Madrid, as secretary of state in his revolutionary cabinet.
This designation was subsequently changed to "president of the Republic of the Philippines." An appointment signed by all the revolutionary generals in the field, but which he never received because it fell into the hands of Gov. Arturo Dancel of Morong (now Rizal) province, who forwarded it to American Gov. Gen. William Howard Taft.
De Los Reyes returned to the Philippines in July 1901 with a luggage containing the first batch of socialist literature ever to reach the Philippines. It consisted of writings by such famous socialist anarchists as Proudhon, Bakunin, Malatesta and other leftist writer of the period.
He also brought into the country a printing press, which proved invaluable in the organization of the Philippine Independent Church and the Union Obrera Democratica.
This socialist literature must have had such a tremendous impact on local labor circle that hardly two years later (circa 1903) Lope K. Santos, a young journalist and labor leader, started the publication of Banaag at Sikat ("Ray and Sunrise") his social novel, in the daily newspaper Muling Pagsilang ("The Birth") which he also edited.
Published in book form in 1906, Banaag at Sikat was the first literary work by a Filipino to expound the principles of socialism in the Philippines. This novel antedated by almost a generation the birth in 1932 of the Socialist Party of the Philippines (SPP) founded by Pedro Abad Santos.
2 THE LABOR MOVEMENT
COMMUNISM CANNOT THRIVE without an organized labor movement. The mass of wage earners provides the base of operation and motive power for this ideology.
These workers are found in urban areas. They are part and parcel of the modern industrial system. The Philippine economy during the Spanish regime was largely agricultural or feudal so there were no developed, large-scale, industries which could provide the working force necessary for a strong, organized labor movement. Consequently, there was no evidence of communism in the Philippines up to the outbreak of the Revolution in 1896.
To be sure, workers associations known as gremios (guilds) were already in existence during the Spanish rule. The best known of this gremios was the Gremio del Obreros de Sampaloc, the Gremio de Escultores del Barrio Santa Cruz, and the Gremio de Carpinteros.
But this gremios were not labor unions in the true sense of the term, but mutual aid and benefit associations. Their activities were largely confined to celebrating the feast days of patron saints.
FIRST ORGANIZE STRIKE
One gremio of printers, however, staged a strike in the government press of San Fernando, Pampanga in 1872. This was the same year the Cavite Revolt broke out, causing violent repercussions, including the execution of Father Burgos, Gomez and Zamora--definitely a turning point in the Philippine history, for it marked the birth of Filipino nationalism. The San Fernando walkout was in protest against the abuses of the plant foremen.
Another group (not yet a labor union in the modern sense) of printers struck in 1893 at a German publishing firm on the Escolta, Manila, following the maltreatment of a fellow printer. The strike was settled amicably.
The earliest known labor union in the Philippines was organized in the printing plant of La Independencia, edited by Gen. Antonio Luna, which was also located in San Fernando, then the seat of the Philippine revolutionary government under Emilio Aguinaldo.
It was known as the Union de Litografos y Impresores de Filipinas (ULIF). That the laborers in this printing establishment were able to organize a union speaks well of the revolutionary government's democratic character.
On March 1899, the union struck for higher wages and also in protest against the abuses of the plant superintendent. Finding the workers demands reasonable, Luna intervened and settled the strike by granting a 25 percent general wage increase.
He assured the strikers that the first concern of the Philippine government was "to give protection and prosperity to the Filipinos." The plant superintendent was, however, retained after being reprimanded by Education Secretary Artemio Cruz Herrera of the revolutionary government.
WRITERS IN THE MOVEMENT
The ULIF was organized and headed by Hermenegildo Cruz, a young labor leader who was destined to play a great role in the Philippine labor movement.
It was Cruz who helped Isabelo de los Reyes organize, on 2 February 1902, the first labor federation in the Philippines--the Union Obrera Democracia. Cruz was also to become the first president of the Union de Impresores de Filipinas (UIF) and Bureau of Labor director.
A significant commentary of communism in the Philippines is the fact that is growth and development is linked intimately with the writing and printing profession.
First, it was De los Reyes, an ilustrado and writer, who brought the first socialist literature into the country. Then it was Hermenegildo Cruz, a printer and writer, who organized the first printer's union and led its first successful strike. Another writer, Lope K. Santos, published the first socialist-oriented novel, Banaag at Sikat ("Ray and Sunrise").
Finally, from the ranks of the printers was to come--a few years later--Crisanto Evangelista, the CCP founder.
De los Reyes's UOD existed for only three months because during its third strike he was arrested and imprisoned for causing a public disturbance. Although Gov. William Taft subsequently pardoned him, De los Reyes decided to retire from the UOD to devote his time to politics.
Dr. Jose Maria Dominador Gomez, a colleague in the Propaganda Movement in Spain, succeeded De los Reyes, but he renamed the labor federation to Union Obrera Democratica de Filipinas (UODF). As its name indicates, the UODF was nationalist-oriented.
GOMEZ GOES TO JAIL
Gomez planned to establish cooperative and set up medical and legal services for union members. On 1 May 1903, he personally led a mammoth labor demonstration to Malacanang. Some 100,000 workers from Manila and suburbs participated in this demonstration which rang with shouts of "Down with American imperialism." "We want freedom!" and "We demand the eight-hour working day!"
American troops with fixed bayonets prevented the workers from entering Malacanang. Incidentally, this was the first demonstration in observance of May first, or Labor Day in the Philippines.
In the late May 1903, Manila police headed by American officers raided Gomez's home and the printing press where his union's organ. Los Obreros ("The Workers") was printed. They ransacked his library and seized books and files, which were used as bases for his arrest.
Gomez was charged with "sedition and illegal association." He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to four year at hard labor on Corregidor Island, and to pay a fine of 2,500 pesetas.
Elevating his case to Supreme Court, Gomez was eventually acquitted. Pressure and harassment, however, caused him to resign from the UODF. Like his predecessor, Gomez later his attention to politics.
Gomez's arrest and conviction forced the dissolution of the UODF. At this juncture, Lope K. Santos, the young editor of the paper Ang Kaliwanagan ("The Light"), gathered the UODF remnants and organized them into the Union del Trabajo de Filipinas (UTF).
His leadership of the union, however, lasted only four years for it broke up in 1907 due to intramural troubles and mismanagement of funds. An energetic man and prolific writer, Santos was running a daily newspaper, Muling Pagsilang ("The Rebirth"), while leading the labor union. It was at this point that he started the publication of his Banaag at Sikat, writing one installment each day until it was finished after two years. The socialist-oriented novel was an immediate success among the workers, as evidenced by the fact that 3,000 copies were sold in the first few weeks after its publication.
THE SOCIALIST-ORIENTED UIF
Crisanto Evangelista, the union leader in the printing plant of the Bureau of Printing, had no doubt imbibed the socialism of Santos's Banaag at Sikat for in 1906, the same year this novel appeared in book form, the printers affiliated with the defunct UODF decided to form an independent union, the Union de Impresores de Filipinas (UIF).
Evangelista was elected general secretary of the union, which adopted the following socialist slogan: "The emancipation of the workers must be achieved by the workers themselves."
The appearance of Banaag at Sikat is significant because it is one concrete proof that socialist and/or communist ideas had been circulating in the Philippines long before the arrival here of American and Indonesian Communist agents, hence refuting the claim that foreigners were responsible for the introduction of communism in the Philippines.
After the founding of the UIF, the most significant development in the field of labor was the birth on 1 May 1913 of the Congreso Obrero de Filipinas (COF), which was destined to be the biggest and best-organized labor federation in the country for nearly two decades until the momentous labor split of May 1929.
Hermenegildo Cruz was elected first president of the COF. A few years later, Francisco Varona, a newspaperman, who was later elected representative for the north district of Manila, succeeded him. Evangelista, who had been director of the COF since its founding, became the national secretary of the federation in 1924.
THE PRECURSOR OF THE PKM
An equally important development was the founding in 1919 of the Union de Aparceros de Filipinas headed by Jacinto G. Manahan of Bulacan, Bulacan. In 1922, the union expanded its activities and was renamed Confederacion de Apaceros y Obreros Agricolas de Filipinas.
Two years later, the name was changed to Kalipunang Pambansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KPMP), the immediate predecessor of the postwar PKM (Pambansang Kaisahan ng mga Magbubukid), or National Peasants Union, which supplied the foot soldiers of the Hukbalahap (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon), or People's Anti-Japanese Army.
By 1919, Evangelista, as UIF general secretary and ranking leader of the COF, had gained such prominence in the rank of organized labor that he was designated labor representative in the First Philippine Independence Mission to the United States headed by Senate President Quezon.
Evangelista was given the task of contacting Filipino workers in the United States as well as American labor unions with the end in view of enlisting their moral and material support for the cause of the Philippine independence. Evangelista was exposed to American leftist elements, and consequently, returned to the Philippines a confirmed Marxist.
EVANGELISTA BOLTS THE NP
Another significant incident was to influence the life of Evangelista. It appeared that while he was in the United States Evangelista became disgusted with the frivolities of his colleagues in the independence mission who treated it as a junket instead of a task filled with great responsibility.
Quezon himself admitted that Evangelista had performed his job with great zeal and dedication. Evangelista, now back, waited for an opportunity to prove his loyalty to his newfound faith--Marxism.
The chance presented it self in 1924 when Evangelista and two other radical labor leaders, Domingo Ponce and Cirilo Bognot, failed to win nominations as officials candidates of the Nacionalista Party for councilor of Manila. The choice fell on a rightist labor leader. To Evangelista and his colleagues this was the limit: they bolted the Nacionalista party and set up their own--the Partido Obrero.
This being mainly Evangelista's brainchild, the new party adopted a political program, which was described as Marxist. Some six years later, this Marxist program of the Partido Obrero became the basis of the program of a new and or Communist Party of the Philippines.
Mr. Manuel E. Valdehuesa, Jr., director of the Ateneo Publication Office, was very generous with his advice which would be helpful of Filipino authors. When Mr. Valdehuesa was not around, his assistant director, Mrs. Gloria V. Sevilla, pinch-hit for him with admirable expertise. The members of their staff, from the editor to the last typist and bookbinder, likewise deserve the author's appreciation.
1THE PARTY'S ORIGIN AND ROLE
The COMMUNIST PARTY of the Philippines (CPP) is today's looming question mark. It was declared illegal and outlawed under Republic Act No.1700, otherwise known as the Anti-Survertion Law, in 1957, but nobody can say definitely whether the party is now dead or merely biding its time. However, one thing is certain: while the CPP may be, to all intents and purposes, nonexistent, the communist movement is very much alive.
One does not require extraordinary perception to se the party's influence in the thinking not only of the youth and workers but also of government officials. When some members of the Congress recently urged the opening of trade relations with the communist countries in Eastern Europe, they were unwittingly reviving and supporting the stand taken by the CPP almost a generation ago. As early as 1946, soon after the grant (or restoration) of the Philippine independence, the party batted for the immediate opening of the trade and diplomatic relations with all (including communist) countries.
DEMONSTRATION
In a recent demonstration stage by students at the American Embassy in Manila, some placards carried demands for the abrogation of "parity" rights to Americans and the withdrawal of the United States military bases in the Philippines. These, in fact, were the very same demands made by the communist many years ago, long before the late Sen. Claro M. Recto articulated them in speeches and statement to the press.
The workers and employees, too, in demanding higher wages and better working conditions, equal pay for equal work for men and women, regardless of race or color, are voicing the same grievances aired by communist many times before. But to call the demonstrators communists or communist dupes would be ludicrous, because their grievances have little or nothing to do with the furtherance of communism as an ideology.
THE CPP'S ATTRACTIONS
The CPP is a unique and durable party. It has been outlawed twice, first in 1932 and again in 1957, but the party has taken all this in stride. It is extremely doubtful if the CPP can be legislated out of existence. All the important communist leaders have been place behind bars, but there is no doubt that communism continues to win adherents, especially from the ranks of the alienated: people disenchanted and disgusted with unfulfilled promises of public officials, fed up with government graft and corruption, impatient with police inability to curb the rising crime wave, furious with the growing unemployment and the widening gap between the rich and poor, and, finally distraught with the failure of priests and laity alike to live up to the teaching of Christianity.
Unlike other political parties, the CPP is active at all times, election or no election, under any conceivable situation, legal or illegal. Its cadres proselytize and propagate communist ideas in the cities and in the countryside. The party's goal remains the same: to capture state power. This is the task to which communist have pledged their lives and their fortune, no matter how long it may take to accomplish.
The communists can wait; after all, so they claim, they are not building for a day but for the next thousand years. They are supremely confident that "history" is on their side, and that theirs will be the final victory.
It is this peculiar, intransigent thinking of the communist, which will not disappear regardless of reverses, that makes the present survey of the Philippines communism-its historical background, origin, rise and "temporary" eclipse-one of great relevance to the Filipino people.
TWO REVOLUTIONS
The CPP was organized 26 August 1930, but it had to wait for more than two months before it was officially proclaimed on 7 November 1930. The two dates - 26 August, and 7 November - are "sacred" to Filipino communists. Evidently, the Communist "founding fathers" had so designed that the CPP should symbolize the spirit of two significant revolutions in our time: the Philippine and Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution.
The Philippine Revolution was launched on 26 August 1896 - some historians claim it happened three days earlier-when Andres Bonifacio and his Katipunan followers tore their cedulas in the now-famous "Cry of Balintawak" (other call it "Cry of Pugad Lawin"), and swore to fight by whatever means at their disposal until the hated Spanish regime was overthrown.
The Russian Revolution, on the other hand, is officially known to have climaxed on 7November (25 October in the Old Russian calendar) 1917.
The Philippine Revolution was a nationalist revolution, the first in Asia, while the Russian Revolution was a communist-led working class revolution, the first in the history of mankind.
In trying to bridge the two revolutions, the CPP would seem to emphasize both the nationalist and proletarian character of its revolutionary struggle.
It is significant to note that the party was organized in the Templo Del Trabajo (literally Temple of Labor), doubtless the most important gathering place for labor elements in the city early 30's. It was proclaimed at Plaza Moriones, Tondo, and the heartland of Manila's working-class district.
THE PROLETARIAN HERO
In the official history of the CPP written by Jose Lava, former general secretary of the party, and in other communist documents, one comes across frequent references to Bonifacio as the foremost Filipino hero.
Bonifacio, in the 1930 constitution of the CPP, is described as a "real son of sweat." Filipino communists, in fact, consider their revolutionary struggle as a continuation of the "unfinished" revolution" started by the Great Plebeian.
The CPP of course cannot claim that the revolution, though led by Bonifacio, was already a proletarian revolution. Lava himself concedes that it was merely a "bourgeois-democratic-colonial" revolution whose objectives include (1) emancipation from Spanish domination, (2) confiscation and distribution of the friar lands to landless farmers, and (3) establishment of a democratic republic.
But the party's 1930 constitution takes occasion to denounce the alleged betrayal of the revolution by the "burgesses," referring to the illustrados or middle-class intellectuals who allegedly "sold out" at the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. And the Philippine-American WAR that followed the revolution against Spain, a number of bourgeois elements belonging to the Cuerpo de Compromisarios broke away from the Katipunan and shifted their allegiance to the Americans.
It was not until 1938, in the constitution of the new CPP representing the merger of the Communist and Socialist parties, that the part began to accord due recognition to non-proletarian elements like Burgos, Rizal, Luna and other martyrs and heroes of our Philippine Revolution.
DEBT TO AN ILUSTRADO
Notwithstanding is sharp proletarian bias, the CPP cannot fail to acknowledge its great indebtedness to another ilustrado, Isabelo De Los Reyes, who was imprisoned for his involvement in the revolution and later exiled to Barcelona, Spain.
It was in the dark dungeon of the Muntjuich Castle in Barcelona that De Los Reyes met Francisco Ferrer y Guardia, the anarchist-syndicalist whose revolutionary activities included the sacking and burning of 400 Spanish Catholic churches.
It was from Ferrer, according to a recent historical study, that De Los Reyes got the idea of founding the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, headed by the schismatic Gregorio Aglipay and the Union Obrera Democratica (UOD), the first labor federation in the Philippines.
De Los Reyes was released from prison after the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato on 15 December 1897, but did not return immediately to the Philippines. Instead, he worked with other Filipino expatriates in Spain and France for the cause of Philippine Independence. He wrote extensive propaganda tracts and published several books and pamphlets which he later sent to the Philippines.
SOCIALIST LITERATURE
He must have gained great prominence through his writings and revolutionary activities for, in March 1901, following the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela, Gen. Miguel Malvar, taking command of the remaining forces in Luzon, appointed De Los Reyes, then in Madrid, as secretary of state in his revolutionary cabinet.
This designation was subsequently changed to "president of the Republic of the Philippines." An appointment signed by all the revolutionary generals in the field, but which he never received because it fell into the hands of Gov. Arturo Dancel of Morong (now Rizal) province, who forwarded it to American Gov. Gen. William Howard Taft.
De Los Reyes returned to the Philippines in July 1901 with a luggage containing the first batch of socialist literature ever to reach the Philippines. It consisted of writings by such famous socialist anarchists as Proudhon, Bakunin, Malatesta and other leftist writer of the period.
He also brought into the country a printing press, which proved invaluable in the organization of the Philippine Independent Church and the Union Obrera Democratica.
This socialist literature must have had such a tremendous impact on local labor circle that hardly two years later (circa 1903) Lope K. Santos, a young journalist and labor leader, started the publication of Banaag at Sikat ("Ray and Sunrise") his social novel, in the daily newspaper Muling Pagsilang ("The Birth") which he also edited.
Published in book form in 1906, Banaag at Sikat was the first literary work by a Filipino to expound the principles of socialism in the Philippines. This novel antedated by almost a generation the birth in 1932 of the Socialist Party of the Philippines (SPP) founded by Pedro Abad Santos.
2 THE LABOR MOVEMENT
COMMUNISM CANNOT THRIVE without an organized labor movement. The mass of wage earners provides the base of operation and motive power for this ideology.
These workers are found in urban areas. They are part and parcel of the modern industrial system. The Philippine economy during the Spanish regime was largely agricultural or feudal so there were no developed, large-scale, industries which could provide the working force necessary for a strong, organized labor movement. Consequently, there was no evidence of communism in the Philippines up to the outbreak of the Revolution in 1896.
To be sure, workers associations known as gremios (guilds) were already in existence during the Spanish rule. The best known of this gremios was the Gremio del Obreros de Sampaloc, the Gremio de Escultores del Barrio Santa Cruz, and the Gremio de Carpinteros.
But this gremios were not labor unions in the true sense of the term, but mutual aid and benefit associations. Their activities were largely confined to celebrating the feast days of patron saints.
FIRST ORGANIZE STRIKE
One gremio of printers, however, staged a strike in the government press of San Fernando, Pampanga in 1872. This was the same year the Cavite Revolt broke out, causing violent repercussions, including the execution of Father Burgos, Gomez and Zamora--definitely a turning point in the Philippine history, for it marked the birth of Filipino nationalism. The San Fernando walkout was in protest against the abuses of the plant foremen.
Another group (not yet a labor union in the modern sense) of printers struck in 1893 at a German publishing firm on the Escolta, Manila, following the maltreatment of a fellow printer. The strike was settled amicably.
The earliest known labor union in the Philippines was organized in the printing plant of La Independencia, edited by Gen. Antonio Luna, which was also located in San Fernando, then the seat of the Philippine revolutionary government under Emilio Aguinaldo.
It was known as the Union de Litografos y Impresores de Filipinas (ULIF). That the laborers in this printing establishment were able to organize a union speaks well of the revolutionary government's democratic character.
On March 1899, the union struck for higher wages and also in protest against the abuses of the plant superintendent. Finding the workers demands reasonable, Luna intervened and settled the strike by granting a 25 percent general wage increase.
He assured the strikers that the first concern of the Philippine government was "to give protection and prosperity to the Filipinos." The plant superintendent was, however, retained after being reprimanded by Education Secretary Artemio Cruz Herrera of the revolutionary government.
WRITERS IN THE MOVEMENT
The ULIF was organized and headed by Hermenegildo Cruz, a young labor leader who was destined to play a great role in the Philippine labor movement.
It was Cruz who helped Isabelo de los Reyes organize, on 2 February 1902, the first labor federation in the Philippines--the Union Obrera Democracia. Cruz was also to become the first president of the Union de Impresores de Filipinas (UIF) and Bureau of Labor director.
A significant commentary of communism in the Philippines is the fact that is growth and development is linked intimately with the writing and printing profession.
First, it was De los Reyes, an ilustrado and writer, who brought the first socialist literature into the country. Then it was Hermenegildo Cruz, a printer and writer, who organized the first printer's union and led its first successful strike. Another writer, Lope K. Santos, published the first socialist-oriented novel, Banaag at Sikat ("Ray and Sunrise").
Finally, from the ranks of the printers was to come--a few years later--Crisanto Evangelista, the CCP founder.
De los Reyes's UOD existed for only three months because during its third strike he was arrested and imprisoned for causing a public disturbance. Although Gov. William Taft subsequently pardoned him, De los Reyes decided to retire from the UOD to devote his time to politics.
Dr. Jose Maria Dominador Gomez, a colleague in the Propaganda Movement in Spain, succeeded De los Reyes, but he renamed the labor federation to Union Obrera Democratica de Filipinas (UODF). As its name indicates, the UODF was nationalist-oriented.
GOMEZ GOES TO JAIL
Gomez planned to establish cooperative and set up medical and legal services for union members. On 1 May 1903, he personally led a mammoth labor demonstration to Malacanang. Some 100,000 workers from Manila and suburbs participated in this demonstration which rang with shouts of "Down with American imperialism." "We want freedom!" and "We demand the eight-hour working day!"
American troops with fixed bayonets prevented the workers from entering Malacanang. Incidentally, this was the first demonstration in observance of May first, or Labor Day in the Philippines.
In the late May 1903, Manila police headed by American officers raided Gomez's home and the printing press where his union's organ. Los Obreros ("The Workers") was printed. They ransacked his library and seized books and files, which were used as bases for his arrest.
Gomez was charged with "sedition and illegal association." He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to four year at hard labor on Corregidor Island, and to pay a fine of 2,500 pesetas.
Elevating his case to Supreme Court, Gomez was eventually acquitted. Pressure and harassment, however, caused him to resign from the UODF. Like his predecessor, Gomez later his attention to politics.
Gomez's arrest and conviction forced the dissolution of the UODF. At this juncture, Lope K. Santos, the young editor of the paper Ang Kaliwanagan ("The Light"), gathered the UODF remnants and organized them into the Union del Trabajo de Filipinas (UTF).
His leadership of the union, however, lasted only four years for it broke up in 1907 due to intramural troubles and mismanagement of funds. An energetic man and prolific writer, Santos was running a daily newspaper, Muling Pagsilang ("The Rebirth"), while leading the labor union. It was at this point that he started the publication of his Banaag at Sikat, writing one installment each day until it was finished after two years. The socialist-oriented novel was an immediate success among the workers, as evidenced by the fact that 3,000 copies were sold in the first few weeks after its publication.
THE SOCIALIST-ORIENTED UIF
Crisanto Evangelista, the union leader in the printing plant of the Bureau of Printing, had no doubt imbibed the socialism of Santos's Banaag at Sikat for in 1906, the same year this novel appeared in book form, the printers affiliated with the defunct UODF decided to form an independent union, the Union de Impresores de Filipinas (UIF).
Evangelista was elected general secretary of the union, which adopted the following socialist slogan: "The emancipation of the workers must be achieved by the workers themselves."
The appearance of Banaag at Sikat is significant because it is one concrete proof that socialist and/or communist ideas had been circulating in the Philippines long before the arrival here of American and Indonesian Communist agents, hence refuting the claim that foreigners were responsible for the introduction of communism in the Philippines.
After the founding of the UIF, the most significant development in the field of labor was the birth on 1 May 1913 of the Congreso Obrero de Filipinas (COF), which was destined to be the biggest and best-organized labor federation in the country for nearly two decades until the momentous labor split of May 1929.
Hermenegildo Cruz was elected first president of the COF. A few years later, Francisco Varona, a newspaperman, who was later elected representative for the north district of Manila, succeeded him. Evangelista, who had been director of the COF since its founding, became the national secretary of the federation in 1924.
THE PRECURSOR OF THE PKM
An equally important development was the founding in 1919 of the Union de Aparceros de Filipinas headed by Jacinto G. Manahan of Bulacan, Bulacan. In 1922, the union expanded its activities and was renamed Confederacion de Apaceros y Obreros Agricolas de Filipinas.
Two years later, the name was changed to Kalipunang Pambansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KPMP), the immediate predecessor of the postwar PKM (Pambansang Kaisahan ng mga Magbubukid), or National Peasants Union, which supplied the foot soldiers of the Hukbalahap (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon), or People's Anti-Japanese Army.
By 1919, Evangelista, as UIF general secretary and ranking leader of the COF, had gained such prominence in the rank of organized labor that he was designated labor representative in the First Philippine Independence Mission to the United States headed by Senate President Quezon.
Evangelista was given the task of contacting Filipino workers in the United States as well as American labor unions with the end in view of enlisting their moral and material support for the cause of the Philippine independence. Evangelista was exposed to American leftist elements, and consequently, returned to the Philippines a confirmed Marxist.
EVANGELISTA BOLTS THE NP
Another significant incident was to influence the life of Evangelista. It appeared that while he was in the United States Evangelista became disgusted with the frivolities of his colleagues in the independence mission who treated it as a junket instead of a task filled with great responsibility.
Quezon himself admitted that Evangelista had performed his job with great zeal and dedication. Evangelista, now back, waited for an opportunity to prove his loyalty to his newfound faith--Marxism.
The chance presented it self in 1924 when Evangelista and two other radical labor leaders, Domingo Ponce and Cirilo Bognot, failed to win nominations as officials candidates of the Nacionalista Party for councilor of Manila. The choice fell on a rightist labor leader. To Evangelista and his colleagues this was the limit: they bolted the Nacionalista party and set up their own--the Partido Obrero.
This being mainly Evangelista's brainchild, the new party adopted a political program, which was described as Marxist. Some six years later, this Marxist program of the Partido Obrero became the basis of the program of a new and or Communist Party of the Philippines.
