UNPOPULAR OPINION | Martial Law was the Crisis the CPP–NPA-NDFP Needed

When Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared Martial Law in September 1972, he cited the “rising communist threat” as one of its main justifications. But history went on to show that instead of crushing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), Martial Law arguably became their single greatest opportunity for growth.

Far from being a deathblow, the authoritarian turn was the crisis the CPP–NPA needed to expand. Joseph Scalice’s archival research demonstrates that the party used  repression as a recruitment pitch. Every arrest of a student activist, every silenced newspaper, and every case of abuse by state forces became proof that armed revolution was the only solution left. The CPP framed Martial Law not as a setback, but as confirmation that their path of armed struggle was correct.

Indeed, the CPP–NPA appeared to thrive precisely because the state was brutal. The more the regime centralized power and curtailed liberties, the more the party could present itself as the people’s champion. Abuses, whether real or imagined, drove entire communities toward the underground movement. In effect, Martial Law turned the countryside into fertile ground for insurgent expansion.

The dictatorship that claimed to “save” the nation from communism arguably gave the CPP–NPA its golden years. From a few hundred armed guerrillas, they expanded to thousands, established shadow governments in rural areas, and became a central player in the national narrative of resistance. Their leaders exploited every injustice as a propaganda victory, using the regime’s heavy hand to radicalize a generation.

And so, did the CPP–NPA, on some level, wanted Martial Law? They certainly acted as though they did. The more oppressed the people became, the stronger their movement grew. The dictatorship gave them the perfect conditions to portray themselves as the only alternative.

In remembering the 53th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, this lesson should not be lost on us today. Authoritarianism and extremism feed off each other, creating a vicious cycle where ordinary people pay the price. Marcos Sr. wanted Martial Law to justify his hold on power. The CPP–NPA wanted Martial Law to justify theirs. And in the middle stood the Filipino people, whose suffering became the currency of both sides.