CPP’s Money-Making Scheme

A CPP document entitled “Some Important Points for Inclusion in Our Tax Policy,” which was prepared by the CPP Executive Committee-Central Committee (EC-CC) on April 28, 1998, revealed some of the Party’s significant policy guidelines on fund raising. In that document, the Party defines “tax” as a reasonable payment or concessions, while “contribution” as a reasonable amount paid by the contributor on a voluntary basis or as a portion of the benefit gained by the people through agrarian reform, trade privilege or income from other activities wherein tax could be imposed. In general, the document stressed that “tax and contribution” are collected to finance the operations and other functions of the revolutionary movement.

Sample of CPP-NPA Extortion Letter (Photo courtesy of pinoyexchange.com)

The CPP’s Executive Committee (EC) is responsible for the issuance of policies, guidelines, and programs for fund raising activities of the Party. It attends assessment meetings and conferences of the different finance committees/units of the Party. The National Finance Commission (NFC) is the lead Party organ which supervises and coordinates the overall financial activities of the movement.

Generally, eighty percent (80%) of the total funds accumulated by the territorial units nationwide are forwarded to the NFC while the remaining twenty percent (20%) is retained by the lower organs. The central fund is disbursed according to the programs laid down by the Party leadership for a particular year and the approved budget proposal of each functional and territorial organ.

In its efforts to sustain Party operations and activities and support its armed struggle, the CPP-NPA-NDF generates funds through revolutionary taxation a.k.a progressive taxation (extortion in layman’s term) or the so-called Rebolusyonaryong Buwis sa Kaaway na Uri (RBKU), contribution from allies, conduct of the so-called Overseas Revolutionary Works (ORW) and socio-economic works (SEW), and the imposition of permit-to-campaign (PTC) fees on candidates during elections.

The communist movement spearheaded by the CPP-NPA-NDF, has collected through extortion a total of around Php 1.55 billion mostly from business establishments and wealthy individuals since 1996. This amount could be much higher as many victims have chosen to keep mum for fear of NPA reprisals and to prevent disruption of their business operations.

In 2008, the communist movement was able to raise a conservative estimate of Php 61.3 million . The amount increased by 123% or Php 136 million in 2009 and slightly decreased to Php 119 million in 2010. The CPP-NPA’s extortion operations during these periods were notably high in Southern Luzon and Eastern Mindanao Regions where major agricultural, logging, and mining firms can be found. 

- Malayang Filipino