This dyad belongs to the conflict Philippines: Government
Summary of conflict Philippines: Government
The protracted conflict over government in the Philippines has seen the government forces battling both CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) aiming to "overthrow the reactionary bourgeois regime" as well as, for a shorter time-period, military factions unhappy with the Aquino-regime negotiating with the Communist insurgents. Despite several attempts at settlement, finding a solution to the conflict has proven difficult.
2025
In 2025, the Philippines: Government conflict continued between the Government of Philippines and CPP. The number of fatalities remained on similar levels as previous years. Although the government forces suffered a number of fatalities, most casualties were on the side of the insurgents. At the end of 2023, the warring parties issued a joint statement comitting to work toward resuming peace negotiations. However, while exploratory contacts continued, 2024 and 2025 saw no resumption of formal negotiations or major agreements.
The Huk rebellion in the 1940s-1950s
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during the Second World War, several smaller bands of anti-Japanese guerrillas were formed in the Philippines. On 29 March 1942, one of the movements in central Luzon joined forces with activists from PKP (Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, Filipino Communist Party) to form a military branch called Hukbalahap (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon, Peoples Army Against Japan). Apart from fighting the Japanese, the so-called Huks took over and redistributed the lands abandoned by previous owners due to the war.
When the Philippines became independent in July 1946, the new government tried to reinstate the pre-war ownership of the land, leading to the reactivation of the Huk organisation. The Huks reiterated their incompatibility, claiming to fight against the new government and the US forces in the Philippines. Violence escalated and from 1946 to 1954, the Huk movement battled the government, who responded with harsh repression of the civilian population. By the 1960s, the remaining few Huk units had mostly degenerated into criminal bands.
Increasing criticism of US involvement in Philippine affairs led to the formation of several protest groups in the early 1960s. Inspired by the successful revolutions in China, Cuba, and Vietnam, the younger members of PKP were eager for the party to resume armed activity. The Huk veterans spearheading the party responded by expelling a group of younger members led by Jose Maria Sison in 1967. In December 1968, Sison formally established CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) and initiated a military struggle for governmental power in the Philippines.
CPP’s expansion and right-wing coup attempts in the 1970s and 1980s
On 26 December 1968, Jose Maria Sison formally established CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines). CPP adhered to the Maoist idea of an agrarian revolution, and in the 1968 Program for a Peoples Democratic Revolution, the plans for a military struggle were outlined. CPPs military wing, NPA (New Peoples Army) was established on 29 March 1969, consisting of just 60 men with 9 automatic rifles and 26 single-shot rifles. In the following years, NPA kept expanding and in 1972 the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared countrywide martial law to suppress the "state of rebellion" caused by the Communists as well as the increasing communal conflicts between Muslims (Moros) and Christians in the southern region of Mindanao.
By the mid-1980s, CPP had grown to control more than 25 000 fighters active in 80 percent of the country’s 73 provinces. The situation caused widespread popular unrest in the Philippines, eventually leading to mass demonstrations and the ousting of President Marcos in 1986. Instrumental in the actual power take-over were several groups of disgruntled younger officers that a few years earlier - unhappy with the Marcos regime and the handling of the conflicts - had formed RAM (Reform the Armed Forces Movement).
Many parts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines felt betrayed by the newly-elected President Corazon Aquino when she instigated peace talks with the Communist guerrillas in 1986. A number of military factions emerged and some of the former RAM members, especially Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, participated in several coup attempts. Between 1986 and 1990, six attempts were made to replace the elected president but neither lasted for longer than a week. Most of the rebels involved voluntarily went back into the army, others were killed or jailed. In 1995, a peace agreement ended the Military faction insurgency, and the last fugitives returned to the army, or pursued a career in politics. In 1996, "Gringo" Honasan was elected into the Filipino Senate.
De-escalation in the 1990s
Several factors led to a decrease in fighting between CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) and the government in the early 1990s. The military was preoccupied with internal struggles (for more information see “CPP’s expansion and right-wing coup attempts in the 1970s and 1980s”) and several peace initiatives were launched (For more information see “Attempts at resolution”). Changes also occurred within the CPP, namely, the international political support was diminishing and the movement suffered internal divisions on what tactics to pursue. CPP leader Jose Maria Sison was released from prison in 1986, in which he had spent the last nine years, and fled to the Netherlands, where he started an internal purge based on ideological concerns. As a consequence, several factions such as the Alex Boncayao Brigade, left CPP to pursue urban guerrilla warfare using bombs and, to a larger extent, targeting civilians.
Conflict activity kept decreasing as more formal peace negotiations were held in the mid-1990s and several general amnesties led to a decline in CPP military strength. However, after President Fidel Ramos (who had replaced Corazon Aquino in 1992) was succeeded by Joseph Estrada in 1998, peace negotiations stalled. The economic crisis of 1998-99 also led to an increasing popular criticism of the government, and the different factions of CPP seemed to unite. As a consequence, the conflict escalated again in the early 2000s.
Conflict activity in the 2000s
After an escalation of the conflict in the early 2000s, and several rounds of failed negotiations in 2004 (For more information see “Attempts at resolution”) President Gloria Arroyo ordered an all-out war against CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) in 2006, effectively ruling out any peace talks. Consequently, 7000 extra troops were recruited. The rebels responded by calling for an intensification of the struggle. Arroyo stated that her goal was to wipe out the rebels by 2010 when she finishes her term. However, despite a decrease in rebel troop size, due to battle casualties and surrenders, the NPA (New People’s Army, CPP’s military wing) rebels continued to inflict losses on the Philippine Armed Forces as well as on civilians. At the end of the first decade of the 2000s, CPP had been severely weakened and its troop size hit the lowest number since the mid-1990s. On several occasions CPP cooperated with the Muslim rebels fighting the government in the southern island of Mindanao (For more information see the Philippine conflict over the territory Mindanao). In 2008, it was reported that they had formed a tactical alliance sharing technology and training. The rebel groups were also allegedly carrying out joint attacks in the southern parts of the country.
In 2009, the discussion about the US presence in the Philippines heated up as both civilians and representatives from the rebels groups in Mindanao reported that US troops had been involved in combat in the country. The American military involvement in the Philippines is regulated in the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951, and the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement) of 1998. The VFA and the Philippine Constitution allow US troops to train and advise the Philippine military, but ban them from engaging in combat operations. After an incident with a landmine that killed two US Special Forces soldiers in the troubled Sulu province, the question of US involvement was widely discussed. However, the US and the Philippine government maintained that no Americans took part in combat in the Philippines.
Attempts at settlement
The first negotiations between CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) and the government were held in Manila in 1986, but failing to create an agreement, talks broke down in early 1987. Since then, several attempts at negotiations have been made, especially during the years of President Fidel Ramos (1992-1998), as he created the National Unification Commission (NUC) in 1992 to find a solution to all of the conflicts in the Philippines. Several low-level contacts have been made where underlying factors of the conflict have been discussed as a preparation for a future settlement of the dispute. The parties have also signed several joint agreements, outlining the framework for future negotiations.
Since the early 2000s, Norway has been an important third party mediator, and several rounds of peace talks have been held in Oslo. The Netherlands has also hosted exploratory talks on several occasions. Formal negotiations took place in Oslo in 2004, when three rounds of talks failed to make the parties agree on the contentious issue of NPA (New People’s Army, the armed wing of CPP) being listed as a terrorist group. Since then, informal talks have been held in Oslo, The Hague and Hong Kong. In 2009, the Philippine government promised those members of CPP who were directly involved in the talks, immunity from arrest on Filipino territory. Formal peace talks were planned to resume in Oslo in August 2009. However, when the government arrested rebels who CPP claimed were consultants in the talks, the negotiations were postponed to October. On 4 September, both sides proclaimed that no negotiations were to be held and they blamed each other for not cooperating. In 2010, informal talks were held again, and formal negotiations were planned for early 2011.
Between 15 and 21 February 2011, the first formal peace negotiations since 2004 took place in Norway. At the end of the negotiations the parties stated that they had agreed on a time frame of 18 months to produce agreements on socio-economic, political and constitutional reforms.
New talks were scheduled for June 2011, but were called off by CPP after the government failed to release a number of jailed rebels.
In early September 2011, the Norwegian facilitator travelled to the Philippines to try to restart the stalled negotiations. After separate meetings with the negotiation teams, new negotiations were scheduled for late October. However, CPP called off the talks once again and insisted the consultants were released from prison.
Formal negotiations did not resume until in late December 2012 when the parties met, together with the Norwegian mediator, in the Netherlands, and again in February 2013. . The meeting, hosted by the Netherlands, took place 25-26 February 2013 and was led by the Norwegian mediator Ture Lundh. Both sides circulated draft declarations of National Unity and Just Peace, but the talks broke down and did not resume during 2013. In May, CPP stated that there will be no talks unless the government agrees to release detained CPP members who are facing charges.
In 2016, new attempts were made to negotiate an end to the conflict between the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the Philippine government. The parties met in formal peace talks in Oslo in August, the first such talks since 2013, and again in October. During the meetings in October, the parties agreed on a framework to serve as foundation for a peace agreement. A third and fourth round of peace talks were held in January and April 2017. Following the proclamation of martial law in Mindanao in May, CPP escalated their attacks. In response, Duterte called off the fifth round of talks planned for late May. In November 2017, President Duterte officially ended peace talks with CPP and formally designated the Communist rebels a terrorist group. Peace talks were scheduled to resume in Norway in late June 2018, but when the government decided to postpone them, CPP reacted by abandoning talks with the Duterte administration. In December 2018, the government rejected CPP's unilateral Christmas ceasefire, and fighting continued unabated.
In February 2019, Duterte offered to reopen talks with CPP, but one month later, he announced permanent termination of dialogue with the group. No negotiations took place during the year, but by December, there were again talks about the possibility to reopen peace negotiations in Europe. Both parties declared a Christmas ceasefire 23 Dec 2019 - 7 Jan 2020.
After CPP attacked and killed soldiers who were carrying aid to villagers located in Aurora Province in April 2020, President Duterte turned down the possibility of seeking peace negotiations with CPP. The peace talks failed to resume after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed the presidential office in June 2022. The armed forces of the Philippines targeted high-profile rebel leaders and successfully neutralized a number of insurgents throughout the year.
Following talks facilitated by Norway the warring parties issued a joint statement in November 2023 comitting to work toward resuming peace negotiations, which marked the first significant attempt to revive negotiations under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. However, while exploratory contacts continued, 2024 and 2025 saw no resumption of formal negotiations or major agreements. Disagreements persisted regarding ceasefire conditions, release of political prisoners, and the continuation of government counterinsurgency operations. Armed clashes between the parties continued, while the government increasingly emphasized localized peace initatives and military pressure against remaining CPP strongholds.
In the second dyad in this conflict, between the government and the Military faction responsible for the coup attempts in 1987 and 1989-1990 (Military faction – forces of Honasan, Abenina & Zumel, for more information see “CPP’s expansion and right-wing coup attempts in the 1970s and 1980s”), negotiations were initiated in 1993. In 1994, the Military faction agreed to return the weapons belonging to the government after an agreement had been signed, and on 13 October 1995 the GRP-RAM/SFP/YOU General Agreement for Peace was signed in Quezon city. The peace agreement called for a "permanent cessation of hostilities" between the two parties, and a commitment by both to a peaceful future for the Philippines. All remaining members of the Military faction were granted amnesty as well as the possibility to return to their former positions within the armed forces. The Military faction committed to never attempt another coup, and to return the arms they had brought from their bases. Regarding the incompatibility, the groups agreed to implement mutually agreed reforms in the areas of electoral reforms, good governance, nationalist economic development, social justice, and national defense and security.
