The Revolutionary Proletarian Army, also known by the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

RPA, was the military wing of the Revolutionary Workers' Party (Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawà ng Pilipinas) (RPM-P), a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

that split from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Background

The ''Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawà ng Pilipinas'' ("Revolutionary Workers' Party of the Philippines") was established after the

Negros Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...

Regional Party Committee of the

New People's Army The New People's Army ( fil, Bagong Hukbong Bayan), abbreviated NPA or BHB, is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), based primarily in the Philippine countryside. It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aim ...

broke away from the Communist Party of the Philippines as a result of an ideological split in 1996. It organized its military arm two months after the split, calling it the Revolutionary Proletarian Army. The

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

-based

Alex Boncayao Brigade The Alex Boncayao Brigade (abbreviated as ABB; also known as the Sparrow Unit) was the urban assassination unit of the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Organized in 1984, the unit broke away from the ...

, which also broke away from the New People's Army, allied itself with the RPA the year after, forming the Revolutionary Proletarian Army – Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB).

Activities

The Revolutionary Proletarian Army – Alex Boncayao Brigade engaged in peace negotiations brokered by Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. with the government of

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice presi ...

in 1999; a

truce A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

was established in December 2000. This development prompted a vehement condemnation from Filemon Lagman, who once controlled the Alex Boncayao Brigade; in a

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

he branded Arturo Tabara of the RPA and Nilo dela Cruz, the head of the ABB as "scoundrels masquerading as revolutionaries". By 2003, relations between the RPA-ABB and the Communist Party of the Philippines had deteriorated to the point where the

, the CPP's military wing began launching attacks on the RPA-ABB. Arturo Tabara, RPM-P chairman, was assassinated in 2004 in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. In 2007, an apparent split occurred between two factions within the RPA-ABB. Nilo dela Cruz of the Alex Boncayao Brigade was expelled by the faction headed by Stephen Paduano and Veronica Tabara, Arturo Tabara's wife. Dela Cruz reciprocated the action, expelling Paduano. Both factions of the RPA-ABB carried on using the same name. In April 2013, the RPA-ABB was reported to have changed its name to ''Kapatiran para sa Progresong Panlipunan'' ("Brotherhood for Social Progress") and stated that it had renounced violence as a method of advancing its cause. Paduano resigned as national commander of the RPA-ABB and ran for Congress during the

2013 Philippine general election A general election was held in the Philippines on May 13, 2013. It was a midterm election—the officials elected will be sworn in on June 30, 2013, midway through President Benigno Aquino III's term of office. Being elected are 12 senators ( ...

under the Abang Lingkod

party-list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

. He took his oath of office in May 2014. The

National Democratic Front of the Philippines The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) ( Filipino: ''Pambansang Demokratikong Hanay ng Pilipinas (PDHP)'') is a coalition of revolutionary social and economic justice organizations, agricultural unions, trade unions, indigenous ...

issued a statement condemning his election into the

Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, although colloquially the te ...

. As of 2016, the peace deal signed by the RPA-ABB with the Estrada administration remains to be fully implemented. Nilo dela Cruz and a group of former RPA-ABB members calling themselves "Democratic Front for Filipinism" issued a statement supporting Rodrigo Duterte's

war on drugs The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...

, and his "revolution against the

oligarchs Oligarch may refer to: Authority * Oligarch, a member of an oligarchy, a power structure where control resides in a small number of people * Oligarch (Kingdom of Hungary), late 13th–14th centuries * Business oligarch, wealthy and influential bu ...

and the exploiters of the Filipino masses".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revolutionary Proletarian Army Military wings of communist parties Military units and formations established in 1996 Far-left politics Guerrilla organizations Maoist organizations Military history of the Philippines Rebel groups in the Philippines Communist armed conflicts in the Philippines Defunct communist militant groups 1996 establishments in the Philippines Left-wing militant groups in the Philippines