The first major incident that involved the CPP was the First Quarter Storm , a series of leftist demonstrations in opposition to Marcos ' reelection . Membership increased due to these events , as well as incidents such as the Diliman commune , while events such as the Plaza Miranda bombing were blamed by the Marcos administration on the communists . Eventually , the declaration of Martial Law on September 23 , 1972 , and the resulting government repression led to more people joining the CPP and the NPA . Arrests were made against the central committee in 1973 , 1974 , 1976 and 1977 , the last including Sison himself , but membership in the groups grew steadily , and decentralized operations allowed the party to operate despite arrests In 1978 , the CPP faced its first major internal debate when the CPP central committee advocated the boycott of the national elections , while the Manila-Rizal committee disagreed , instead wanting to back opposition Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr . This , combined with other differences between the Central and Manila-Rizal committees prevented the CPP from staging effective operations during the 1978 elections . The disastrous result of the elections contributed to the growing bitterness by the people against the Marcos administration , and combined with the CPP 's efforts in mass recruitment led to an increase in CPP-NPA ranks . Disagreements between the policies of the Central Committee and the regional committees however started to grow , particularly in the regional committees ' disapproval of the seemingly dogmatic insistence of the central committee 's reliance on rural armed struggle
Plaza Miranda bombing
Plaza Miranda bombing
Communism in the Philippines