Faced with America’s overwhelming military might, Emilio Aguinaldo and his forces turned to guerrilla tactics. From 1899-1901 they engaged in bloody, no-holds-barred attacks against the occupying U.S. Army. The U.S. Army responded in kind; during the Samar campaign, General Jacob Smith commanded his forces to “kill everyone over the age of ten.” By the time the conflict was put down, some 5,000 Americans, 20,000 Filipino guerrillas, and 200,000 Filipino civilians were dead.

At present several hundred American soldiers are in the Philippines as “advisors” helping to quell a Moslem separatist rebellion. There has been little mention of the thirty-year campaign by the Maoist New Peoples’ Army against the current government and against all forms of imperialism, particularly the “Yankee” kind. This could be an oversight which costs us dearly, particularly since by some estimates they command a larger standing army than any of the Islamic groups.

The Philippines is considered one of Asia’s most unequal societies. 20% of the Filipino population owns 80% of Filipino land; private armies fielded by large landowners regularly commit atrocities against the indigenous peoples. Much of this development and exploitation has been funded by multinational corporations. The Filipino economy has been particularly hard-hit by the “Asian Malaise” which has claimed Japan and other regional economic powerhouses; never mind the poor, even the rich are getting poorer. This is also the government which brought us Imelda Marcos and her shoe collection; corruption remains widespread. In 1998 Filipino matinee idol Joseph Estrada was elected president on an anti-corruption platform; in 2001 he went on trial for plundering the state treasury.

In the best Maoist tradition, the NPA is primarily a rural organization. It provides revolutionary “justice” against oppressors, and supports itself through “revolutionary taxes” on businesses operated in regions under its control. NPA operatives have been known to attack businesses that did not pay these taxes, including American businesses. Also in the best Maoist tradition, there are a variety of guerrilla armies under the NPA rubric. This makes it difficult to determine the exact number of NPA soldiers in the field; estimates range from 4,000 to 25,000. During the Marcos era, it was estimated that the NPA controlled one-fifth of all villages in the Philippines and was active in sixty of seventy-five provinces and Manila. Since that time some say that it has become irrelevant; others say that it has doubled in size.

It is difficult to say what effect the American presence will have on the Philippines. The same resentment which drove us out of Clark and Subic military bases still simmers. Estrada’s successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has made peace overtures toward the NPA. They have, however, vowed to retaliate against American interests if U.S. soldiers were once again stationed on Philippine soil. Given their thirty-year history, there is no reason to suppose they will not keep that word.