The Philippine Left's Transformation: Ideals vs. Reality

For over half a century, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), have championed revolution. However, their influence has significantly waned. Government figures indicate that all 89 guerrilla fronts active at the start of the Marcos administration have been dismantled. By August 2025, the NPA's armed membership is estimated to have dwindled to approximately 785 individuals. Once reportedly commanding over 25,000 fighters, the NPA now operates in small, dispersed units. While capable of ambushes, extortion, and intimidation, they appear unable to mount any semblance of the revolution promised since 1968. This military decline is mirrored in the political sphere. In the 2025 Senate elections, no candidates from the Makabayan bloc won, and the movement's party-list representation contracted. This does not imply that all Filipinos identifying with the Left have become irrelevant. Social democrats, labor activists, environmentalists, and groups like Akbayan hold different positions than the CPP-aligned national-democratic movement. Akbayan, notably, topped the 2025 party-list elections. The ideological predicament of the revolutionary Maoist Left is starkly evident in its opposition to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) and, more recently, Pax Silica. EDCA allows rotational access for US forces to designated Philippine military bases, while Pax Silica is a US-led global alliance aimed at protecting supply chains for semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and critical minerals. Left-leaning groups argue these foreign partnerships pose geopolitical risks, turning the Philippines into an American military outpost and a target in Washington's confrontation with China, thereby compromising Philippine sovereignty. While these concerns warrant debate, their narrative bears a striking resemblance to Beijing's own arguments, which also claim EDCA expansion undermines regional stability and draws the Philippines into US-China tensions. This similarity raises a crucial question: why do elements of the Philippine Left arrive at strategic positions that weaken US-Philippine security cooperation, especially when China is aggressively pressing its maritime claims in the West Philippine Sea? Opposition to Pax Silica also persists. The Philippines joined this US-led initiative, with New Clark City being positioned as a hub for AI, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing, projecting significant investments and job creation. Yet, parts of the Philippine Left are marching against it. Modern China's economic ascent followed Deng Xiaoping's reforms, which dismantled much of Mao's economic system and embraced market principles and foreign investment. Vietnam, too, has pursued economic liberalization while maintaining a communist political system. Filipino Maoists, who once looked to Mao's China as an ideal, now appear to cling to an ideology detached from the economic realities of contemporary China and Vietnam. Their rhetoric—labeling America as imperialist, capitalism as exploitation, foreign investment as dependency, and security cooperation with Washington as surrender—persists, failing to adapt to a changing world and becoming mere dogma. While the NPA may still possess arms and pose a security threat, requiring continued government attention, the revolutionary ideals are increasingly out of step with evolving realities, losing their relevance. Source: Rappler Business