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Partido Marxista-Leninista NG Pilipinas
Partido Marxista-Leninista NG Pilipinas
Overview
The Partisano group of the Partido Marxista-Leninista ng Pilipinas (PMLP) is a
reincarnation of the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB), the urban guerilla hit squad
that split from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army
(CPP-NPA) in the 1990s.
Basic characteristics
Typology
The PMLP is a small urban guerilla group that claims to work for a ‘socialist
society of Filipino workers’.
Current status
The PMLP is apparently very small and with few incidents registered in the
media from 2004 to 2006. Most probably defunct since 2007.
Origins
The PMLP claims to be the ‘true’ incarnation of the Alex Boncayao Brigade
(ABB), the former urban guerilla hit squad of the Communist Party of the
Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), formed in 1985. The ABB killed
over 200 people in the late 1980s and early 1990s, mostly in Metro Manila
(George, 2004). It initially answered to the CPP’s Manila-Rizal Regional Party
Committee headed by Filemon ‘Ka Popoy’ Lagman, but in 1991 it broke away
Leadership
In 2004, ‘Mikhail Leongson’ claimed to be the group’s spokesperson. In 2005,
‘Garbriel Cordova’ signed a statement as spokesperson of the Partisano-
Armadong Operatiba ng Partido Marxista-Leninista ng Pilipinas (Partisan-
Armed Operative of the Marxist-Leninist Party of the Philippines) for the
National Capital Region (Calalo, 2005).
Support
The PMLP’s support comes from the urban poor and working class in Metro
Manila.
Military activities
Areas of operation, control, and activity
Metro Manila.
Collaboration and friction with other armed groups. The Partisano group of the
PMLP has condemned the CPP led by Sison and Benito and Wilma Tiamzon
as ‘Maoist trash’. The group claims it is the ‘true ABB’, as opposed to the ABB
aligned with the RPMP-RPA-ABB of Nilo de la Cruz and Carapali Lualhati,
which is ‘fake’ (Partisano, 2004). De la Cruz dismisses the Partisano group,
which he says is made up of just five armed individuals from the youth sector.
Outlook
The group did not make its presence felt in 2006 or 2007, beyond painting
anti-Arroyo and anti-US slogans on fences in Metro Manila.
Endnotes
1 There was some initial confusion as to which group claimed the killing, with an earlier media
report attributing it to the MLPP-RHB. See ABS-CBN.com (2004).