ABSTRACT
The successful student protests against higher tuition fees in mid-1977 encouraged Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) leaders to begin making plans for a sustained wave of demonstrations in Manila modeled after the legendary First Quarter Storm seven years earlier. The ringleaders of the Manila rebellion began holding secret meetings in a safe house unknown to the Central Committee or to its appointed loyalists on the Manila committee, Jopson and Magpantay. The dispute had been exacerbated by the fact that Manila cadres were leading a campaign to undermine the new CPP leader by denouncing him and his allies as "left-wing militarists," a reference to Rodolfo Salas' reputation in Central Luzon as an aggressive guerrilla leader. Before the Manila Committee was allowed to return to the capital, Salas and Tiamzon formed an ad hoc committee to take over administration of the CPP's national capital region.
