Crisanto Evangelista (died January 25, 1942) was a Filipino Communist politician of the first half of the 20th century.
On May Day 1913, together with Herminigildo Cruz, he had attempted to guarantee basic workers' rights and unify the trade unions in the country.
After defecting from the Nacionalista Party with its left wing allies, he became one of the founders(1922) and early leaders of the increasingly Marxist Partido Obrero, which became the Progressive Workers Party. Around it, he formed a new trade union federation, one that was more radical in its goals.
On November 7, 1930, the 13th anniversary of the October Revolution, Evangelista reformed his group as the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas[1] and subsequently led it briefly until it was banned on October 26, 1932 by the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Jailed towards the end of the decade, Evangelista was involved in informal talks with President Manuel L. Quezon, negotiating a social peace.
He was arrested by invading Japanese troops, and executed after an attempt to use him as a bargaining tool in contacts with the Hukbalahap.