 He rounded up a list of supposed suspects, Escabas, and other undesirables to eliminate rivals in the Liberal Party.Based on interviews of The Washington Post with former Communist Party of the Philippines Officials, it was revealed that "the (Communist) party leadership planned – and three operatives carried out – the attack in an attempt to provoke government repression and push the country to the brink of revolution... (Communist Party Leader) Sison had calculated that Marcos could be provoked into cracking down on his opponents, thereby driving thousands of political activists into the underground, the former party officials said.Recruits were urgently needed, they said, to make use of a large influx of weapons and financial aid that China had already agreed to provide."