Alex Boncayao Brigade

The Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) is a Communist militant organization that emerged in the early 1990s as a splinter group of the Communist Party of the Philippines—New People’s Army (CPP-NPA). It seeks to lead a revolutionary, mass-based movement to oust the Philippine government. The ABB was originally established on April 6, 1986 to serve as the CPP-NPA’s guerilla force in Manila. ABB attacks killed more than two hundred people, including government employees and business owners, between the group’s establishment and its split from the CPP-NPA. In the early 1990s, after a major rift within the CPP-NPA over tactics and ideology, the ABB left its parent organization. In 1997, it allied with the Revolutionary Proletarian Army (RPA), another CPP-NPA splinter group, and formed a political wing called Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas (RPM-P). In December 2000, the RPM-P signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government, and it has put forward candidates for elected office. The ABB, in collaboration with the RPA, continues to operate as the RPM-P’s militant wing, although it claims to operate as a self-defense force and to prioritize mass-based politics over armed struggle. The U.S. State Department has included the ABB on its Terrorist Exclusion List since December 2001.