II.
THE COMMUNIST HUK ENEMY
By Ismael D. Lapus, Colonel, AFP
Counter-Guerrilla Seminar Fort Bragg, 15 June 1961
The Congress of the Philippines passed a law in 1957 known as the Anti-Subversion Act. Section 2 of this Act reads:
"The Congress hereby declares the Communist Party of the Philippines to be an organized conspiracy to overthrow the government of the Republic of the Philippines for the purpose of establishing in the Philippines a totalitarian regime and place the government under the control and domination of an alien power. The said party and any other organization having the same purpose and their successors are hereby declared illegal and outlawed.
President Carlos P. Garcia, in signing the Act in June 20, 1957, said:
"With this law, our people have not only officially made the fight against Communism a maker of national policy, but we have also acquired a potent weapon in the fight against subversion ... Under the circumstances, it is clearly the right and the duty of this government to invoke the police powers of a sovereign state to protect itself and the institutions entrusted to its care from criminal attack. I shall not only see to it that the anti-communist program of my illustrious predecessor, Ramon Magsaysay, will remain intact, but I shall also push it through with the same dedication and with unrelenting vigor."
It took eleven years since the first armed encounter between the Huks and the government forces in May, 1946, to convince Congress that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military arm, the Huks, were conspiring to overthrow the government.
The story of the Huk rebellion in the Philippines is a long and complicated one. Although it followed the same pattern as any Communist-led and inspired revolt, circumstances that contributed to the rise and fall of the movement in the Philippines evolved lessons that may prove useful in dealing with people and areas affected by Communist uprisings.
My talk this morning is to give you a quick run-down of the history of the CPP and its military arm, the Huks, its organization, their aims and methods, and the atrocities committed by them, which led to their being outlawed and declared illegal.
This movement may be. better understood by presenting to you the events in sequence, i.e., before World War II, during World War II, and after World War II.
1920 - 1941 As early as 1920, shortly after the Third International or the Comintern was formed, Communism started taking roots in the Philippines. Intellectuals like Isabelo de los Reyes, Dominador Gomez, Crisanto Evangelista, and Antonio D. Ora, through their readings of Karl Marx and contacts with foreign agents like William Janequette alias Harrison George, American Communist from San Francisco, succeeded in organizing Philippine labor leaders to attend the Comintern-sponsored labor conference in Canton, China. In 1925, the Indonesian Communist, Tan Malaka alias Elias Fuentes, infiltrated into the Philippines disguised as a Filipino.
Conditions in the Philippines then offered a fertile ground for Communism to take root. The colonial status of the country offered excellent propaganda for agitators. The antiquated land tenure system served to emphasize the class struggle between the rich landowner and the poor peasant. The crop-sharing system and the usurious rates of interest prevented the peasants to rise above their deplorable low level of living.
Capitalizing on these conditions, Tan Malaka, a Comintern agent, succeeded in stirring the Filipino workers and the labor leaders to accept an invitation to attend the Moscow conference. On their way to Moscow in 1928, Evangelista and Bognot attended the Shanghai conference first and met Communist delegates like Chou en Lai, Earl Browder and others from Europe. In Moscow, they met Stalin himself.
On his return in 1929 to the Philippines, Evangelista lost no time in organizing the Anti -Imperialist League, the Congress of Philippine Workingmen, and formed a working class party "to direct and lead the workers in their struggle for political and economic independence."
A year later on August 26, 1930 (Cry of Balintawak), the birth of the CPP was ushered in with Evangelista guiding its development along the pattern set by the Comintern. The first Politburo was composed of Evangelista, Ora, Manahan, Feleo, Caguin, Arcega and a Chinese referred to as "Comrade C." The official launching of the CPP on November 7, 1930 was made to coincide with the 13th Anniversary of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution with the following aims: (1) Fight and overthrow American imperialism in the Philippines; (2) Direct the movement for immediate and complete independence; (3) Establish Communism under the authority and direction of the masses; (4) Fight against the exploitation of the masses and to defend their rights and liberties; (5) Fight and overthrow capitalism; and (6) use the dictatorship of labor to expedite the move for early independence of the nation and for redemption of the masses and for the practice and adoption of Communism. The hammer and sickle emblem emblazoned against a red background with the phrase "Communist Party of the Philippines" around it was adopted.
The CPP pursued its aims vigorously. Potential leaders like Maclang, Galvez, Brioso, Bambao, Liberio were sent to Moscow to train in Comintern schools; the CPP organ called "Titis" was circulated; propaganda leaflets were distributed with inflamatory slogans such as "Down with this government for this is a government of the dominant American imperialists, "All friars are liars in heaven," "There is no God; God is a mere illusion," "Blood, blood, and only blood can wash away the corruption in the country." After a series of violent and bloody demonstrations, the CPP leaders were arrested in 1931, tried and sentenced to prison.
The remaining free members of the CPP went underground and continued their illegal activities. During the period that the CPP was undergoing severe trials, the Socialist Party under Pedro Abad Santos, brother of a Supreme Court justice, former representative of the Philippine Legislature and member of the Quezon-Osmena Independence Mission to the United States, was gaining considerable influence. Agitations on land reforms were launched by the Party but the movement promoted class struggle in its activities. Its members killed landowners, burned sugarcane fields and rice fields, slaughtered work animals and used threats to recruit followers. President Quezon then instituted land reforms, but the CPP had by then gained control of the Socialist Party and violent clashes between landowners and socialists worsened. At this time, 1938, James Allen alias Dr. Sol Ouerbach of the U. S. Communist Party appeared on the scene and convinced Quezon to pardon Evangelista, Capadocia, Balgos, and others.
The CPP leaders lost no time in gaining control of the Socialist Party and on November 7, 1938, the CPP and the Socialist Party formalized a merger. Abad Santos believed it would be beneficial to the working class. A political committee instead of a politburo was adopted with the following members: Evangelista, Abad Santos, Capadocia, Balgos, Castro, Feleo, del Castillo, Taruc, del Rosario, Cruz, Arogante. The merger added the phrase "affiliated to the Communist International" in Art. VIII of the new constitution and adopted the United Front tactics. The merger ushered in problems that caused differences of opinions among the leaders, petty quarrels and internal splits, which later caused purges in the leadership.
1941 - 1945 Eleven years after the formal launching of the CPP, the Philippines saw itself in the violent clutches of another menace, that of Japanese imperialism. Recognizing perhaps that the battle was one of survival, the CPP leaders initiated steps to win the alliance of the Commonwealth of American high officials by pledging "Loyalty to the governments of the Philippines and the United States." These overtures were, however, ignored by President Quezon and Commissioner Sayre because of the anti -government activities of the CPP. On the whole, the war was a blessing to the CPP. Aside from acquiring the name of patriots, the CPP was afforded the rare opportunity of setting up a miniature "Dictatorship of the Proletariat" complete with a civil branch in the form of the BUDC (Barrio United Defense Corps) and a military arm in the guise of the Anti-Jap Army. Furthermore, the Japanese invasion forced a closer tie between the Filipino and Chinese Communists thru the activation of the Wachi, Chinese squadrons of the Hukbalahap.
The early Japanese victory in the Philippines, however, proved to be a blow to the CPP. The leaders' failure to convince their followers to surrender led to the arrest of Evangelista, del Rosario, Abad Santos, Capadocia, and others. Evangelista later died of torture, Abad Santos, succumbed after illness suffered at Fort Santiago, del Rosario wits liquidated and Capadocia escaped.
The remaining free leaders were quick to retaliate. They met in March, 1942 and organized the Anti-Jap Army called Hukbalahap, (a contraction of "Huk labang sa Hapon" or ''Army Against Japan"), on suggestion of "Comrade C"; with Taruc as CinC and Alejandrino, deputy. Initially, five squadrons with 100 men each were activated. Abandoned arms in the battlefields of Bataan were gathered, deserters from the Jag-sponsored BC with their arms swelled their ranks, arms from ambushed Jap-patrols became a source of more arms. Later, Taruc, after contact was made with Colonel Claude M. Thorpe, was able to get American arms and supplies.
One squadron after another began to be activated and as their army increased in strength, the need for training and indoctrination began to be realized. The CPP established the Stalin University in Mt. Arayat and in the Sierra Madre Mountains, manned by Chinese military and political experts from the Red Chinese 8th Route Army. An all-Chinese guerrilla force, the Overseas Chinese 48th Detachment of the Philippine Anti-Japanese Forces known as the Wachi commanded by Uy Kiat and Wang Keu, was organized. With the support of the Philippine Chinese community, the detachment rapidly increased to six squadrons of 200 men each operating in Bulacan and Laguna. To insure their control and get cooperation of civilians, the Huks organized the BUDC (Barrio United Defense Corps) with membership of 5-12 depending on the size of the barrio on the pretext of protecting the people from looting and banditry. They actually were engaged in recruiting, drilling, intelligence and supply activities. The BUDC performed as courts of justice, and performed marriages among the barrio folks. By December, 1942, the Huk Army with Taruc as CinC, Balgos as Political Commissioner, Adejandrino as Vice CinC, swelled to 5000 well-armed troops. Encouraged by the Chinese Wachi troops, they became bolder and attacked Japanese garrisons, engaged patrols, Japanese convoys and raided BC troops and installations. By March, 1943, they had an Army of about 10,000. The Japanese Imperial Army retaliated and put Mt. Arayat, the Huk stronghold, under siege for ten days, killing and capturing many of the Huk leaders, and drove the Huks deeply underground.
The Huk Army was reorganized. Military districts were dissolved and regional commands were formed. Political organs, to guide fighting units and to see that orders were complied with, were formed down to squad level. Efforts to contact other guerrilla units under Peralta, Montelibano, Confessor, the USAFFE guerrillas under Colonel Merrill, were undertaken by Jose Lava but failed due to misunderstandings and confusion. A new politburo, with Arogante, Castro, Feleo, Comrade "C", Balgos, Taruc, del Castillo, Lava as members, were formed to do away with leaders who advocated the retreat policy and to prepare for the coming of the Liberation forces and. proposed a peacetime coalition with the Osmena government. Regional commands were disbanded and provincial committees, provincial boards and regional staffs were activated in the provinces. The Military Committee was raised to a department.
When the Liberation forces came, they found Alejandrino governor of Pampanga, Feleo governor of Nueva Ecija, Jesus Lava governor of Laguna. Osmena refused to recognize the Communist local administration and the U. S. Army disarmed the Huk Force sent to Manila. The CIC arrested Taruc, Alejandrino, Cayanan, de Leon, and others. They were later released on appeal by the masses but, because of their defiance, they were re-arrested and sent to Iwahig Penal Colony in Palawan. The people of Pampanga then petitioned General MacArthur and President Osmena to recognize the civil officials and the local government set up by the Communists. As expected, the petition was ignored. It was estimated than that out of the 25,000 killed by the Huks, only 5000 were Japanese; Another petition ignored was that made by Balgos who succeeded Luis Taruc as CinC to induct the Huk Army as a whole unit into the Philippine Army.
1945 - 1953 So far as the CPP was concerned, the struggle was resumed when Osmena repudiated the local government set-up by the Communists in Pampanga. and the U. S. Army arrested Huk leaders and disarmed Huk squadrons. President Roxas, a sworn enemy of the Communists, defeated Osmena in the first postwar election and promised to solve the peace and order problem in sixty days. Troubled by the herculean task of national reconstruction and harassed by charges of collaboration with the Japanese and subservience to the United States by the Communists, Roxas died without fulfilling his mission.
With the Pacific campaign drawing to a close, the Huk soldiers wanted recognition by the U. S. Army for their guerrilla service. Their die-hard leaders opposed the idea so much so that only the Banal regiment presented itself for recognition. Embittered, the unrecognized Huks kept their arms and laid low. In March, 1945, the Politburo transferred its headquarters to Manila and concentrated their efforts towards winning labor and peasantry. Thus, the CLO and PKM were taken in. A new political party was formed in July, 1945, called the Democratic Alliance with the aim of ridding the country of political confusion, economic insecurity, and to put up an honest, efficient and progressive administration. It did not take long for the Communists to control this organization. As their first offensive move, a huge demonstration demanding release of huk leaders, Taruc and Alejandrino, was effected in September, 1946. Following their success in having the Huk leaders released, the coalition of the DA and NP was effected and Huk leaders, Lava and Taruc and four others, were elected to Congress. They were, however, not allowed to seat due to charges of fraud and terrorism in their respective provinces. Lava and Taruc returned to their Huk bands in the mountains.
The peace and order situation worsened with the unseating of Taruc and Lava. The Huks geared for the offensive. With their mass base then numbering about 54,000, they stationed guards in strategic places to warn the troops of approaching government troops, and provide shelter and food for Huk troops. The links between the Huks and the PKM were carefully hidden to preserve the status of the former as a respectable peasant organization. The Communist leaders had an excellent propaganda line. They had a good cause to fight for, arising from discontentment against the government. Most of those who collaborated with the Japanese, the Communists observed, were now in high government positions. The members of the Japanese-sponsored BC were now with the MPC. Their ranks swelled to about 15, 000 experienced guerrilla fighters with a strong base support from the masses. On the other hand, the Army at the time was beset with problems of demobilization and collaboration. It was forced to demobilize 95,000 officers and men and keep only 37,000. The initial encounter between the Huks and the government forces occurred in May, 1946 when a group of Huks ambushed a patrol of the 10th MP Co in Sta. Monica, Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, killing 10 soldiers, capturing and beheading its leaders. Soon the Huks went on lightning raids, recruited followers by force, kidnapped, murdered, and burned homes and fields. President Roxas then felt that agrarian reforms could solve the problem. The 70-30 cropsharing law was passed and signed in consideration for the Huks laying down their arms. This did not stop the Huk rampage while negotiations for surrender were going on. Two hundred Huks under Commander Viernes alias Stalin raised the hammer and sickle flag in Nueva Ecija, robbed the people of their crops, chickens and work animals, and threatened the town-people to support the Huks or else.
The town of Norzagaray, Laguna, was sacked and the municipal building robbed of all the Huk raiders could carry. About this time, Feleo disappeared and the Huks accused government troops of having kidnapped and killed him. Roxas then enunciated the mailed-fist policy in place of the policy of attraction.
The Communists met this policy with a combination of legal and armed struggle. In actual implementation, these tactics became an armed struggle for the Huks and a legal struggle for a group of Communist leaders led by the Secretary General, Pedro C. Castro. On April, 1947, the Huks ambushed another patrol of MPs, killing its leader and wounding six others. A month later, 100 Huks raided Laur, Nueva Ecija, and robbed the treasury of $600.00, kidnapped a policeman and looted the town. Another ambush followed in San Miguel, Bulacan, killing two officers of the 115th PC Co. While all these ambushes were being carried out TAruc was building up his forces in Mt. Arayat. Upon learning this, Operation Arayat was launched with 2000 troops of the PC. Twenty-one Huks were killed, six wounded, several sacks of rice, medicine, 43 MGs, 34 rifles and 10,000 rolls of ammunition captured. Taruc was able to escape. Several more bloody encounters crystallized public clamor for general amnesty, which was rejected by Roxas for the reason that the Huks had their chance but did not take it. The situation turned from bad to worse with the unexplained death of Manuel Joven, a radical labor leader. Even PKM members, the civilian arm of the CPP, openly participated in the ambuscade. This led Roxas to declare the Huk and PKM illegal and seditious in March, 1948. A month later, Roxas died of heart attack at Clark Field, leaving the cleavage between the government and the dissidents at its worst.
A grave conflict inside CPP ranks occurred in the face of government mailed-fist policy. Castro, Secretary General, claimed that a "revolutionary situation" was non-existent and therefore, set his foot against the resumption of the armed struggle. On the other hand, the Huks now in fighting spirit and led by more radical leaders like Lava, Taruc and Balgos disobeyed Castro's order and eventually ousted Castro. The Lava faction at this time was beginning to assert its leadership and through a series of purges over disagreement on top policies, the Lava brothers succeeded in power.
The ascension of Quirino to the Presidency after the death of Roxas brought a new approach to the Huk situation. He felt that the strong-arm policy should be changed to a conciliatory one. Quick to grasp a new development to their advantage, Taruc sent word to President Quirino, offering his cooperation and that of the Huk organization in the restoration of peace and order. After a series of exchange of notes, Taruc came out of hiding to see President Quirino. Taruc pledged loyalty to the government and promised to live up to the pledge. He regained his seat in Congress and collected his backpay. The machinery for mass surrender was slow in forming and meanwhile, both sides started accusing each other of bad faith. Then came the day, August 29, 1948, when Taruc, instead of showing up as one of the speakers in a rally to convince his men to lay down their arms, sent a letter to President Quirino, accusing the government of bad faith. He had rejoined his troops to resume the armed struggle.
The failure of the Amnesty Proclamation led to a resurgence of Huk activities, In November, 1948, the CPP leaders changed the name of their military arm to Hukbong Magpapalaya ng Bayan (HMB), "People's Liberation Army," this time making their followers believe they were engaged in the liberation of the Filipino people from "American imperialism." Soon the catchy preamble to their new constitution was attracting new recruits. The Katipunan red banner with the 3 K's replaced the letters HMB. Then began new raids on PC detachments, array camps, government installations, and ambuscades of government troops.
The most publicized of dissident activities was the ambuscade of Mrs. Aurora Quezon by Alexander Viernes alias Commander Stalin with 200 Huks. Killed were Mrs. Quezon, her daughter, Aurora, Mayor Bernardo of Quezon City, Filipe Buencamino, III, the San Agustin brothers, and many others. This was a serious setback to the Communist propaganda activities, since Mrs. Quezon was widely beloved by the people. Noticing the nation's feeling of condemnation, the Communist leaders tried to wash their hands by declaring that the perpetrators were not under orders to do so.
The elections in 1949 provided an excuse for the Communists to declare the existence of a revolutionary situation. Terrorism, fraud and abuses were rampant. Then, a new Politburo came into being with Jose Lava as Secretary General. Military discipline was stricter, financial problems were remedied, attacks were well planned. The 8th Anniversary of the Huks was celebratedwith an attack on San Pablo, City by 100 Huks, and the Communist flag was hoisted in the town hall. Another group raided the PC barracks at San Mateo, Rizal. The town of Montalban was attacked and the mayor kidnapped. The PC barracks in San Rafael, Bulacan was attacked. Other raids were staged in Paete, Nagcarlan, Rizal; Pangil, Lilio, Calamba and Los Banos, Laguna; Lipa, Tanauan, Batangas; Guimba, Adiaga, Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija; Apalit, Mexico, Pampanga. On March 29, in a coordinated military attack, Luis Taruc reported that R. C. 2 ambushed and killed Captain Dvanlao and several soldiers and another attack on San Simon and Mabalacat, Pampanga. Total losses for this anniversary celebration were more than 30 killed, many of them civilians, and more than 50 wounded.
In towns attacked, Huk leaflets were left, enjoining the people to give all possible aid to the Huks. A Presidential order relieved the PC from operational duties and turned the Work over to the Army. Army troops reporting to their new stations were being ambushed whenever possible. May 1, 1950, 100 Huks attacked Aguilar, Pangasinan and twice that number attacked Laur, Nueva Ecija. Troops on the way to Laur were ambushed.
To intensify their intelligence work, the Intelligence Division of the MD was created by the Politburo to gather military, political, and economic intelligence for use in their Armed Struggle. The CPP finally formed two sets of Politburo: PB In - with Jose Lava, Maclang, Espiritu, Bautista, Rodriguez, to stay in Manila; PB Out - with Jesus Lava, Luis Taruc, Castillo, Alejandrino, Balgos to direct field activities. Plans were prepared to increase cadres from 3,600 to 56,000; party members from 10,800 to 172,000; organized masses from 30,000 to 2,430,000 for a period of one year beginning July, 1950. A strategic plan for the national seizure of power was drawn, which called for a general uprising as soon as a revolutionary crisis existed in coordination with trade union strikes and seizure of strategic industries. On May 1, 1952, the government was expected to fall and power would be in Communist hands, Thirty-five Huk Divisions of 3,329 men each or a total of about 116,480 men were planned for the job. R. C. 5 was designated to be their GHQ.
To step up the revolutionary movement, the CPP reorganized their forces. GHQ was composed of Jesus Lava, Chief of Staff, Luis Taruc, Vice Chief of Staff, Alejandrino, Chief, W/Plans, etc. Regional arrangements were, effected too.
The next coordinated attack was launched August 26, 1950 to celebrate the Cry of Balintawak. Camp Macabulos in Tarlac was the target. 200 HMBs under Silvestre Liwanag alias Linda Bie killed 5 officers, 18 EMs, 7 civilians (nurses were criminally attacked), 4 bystanders wounded. Attackers released 47 prisoners from the provincial jail of Tarlac, looted the Army camp before setting it on fire. Patients in the hospital were among those murdered in cold blood while lying helpless in bed.
Sta. Cruz, Laguna, was another target on the same day. 300 HMBs under Pedro Caguin alias Commander Samonte attacked the town at 2:00 A.M., looted and burned the town. 3 killed and 8 wounded on PC side, 15 HMBs killed and their wounded loaded in trucks And escaped towards Pila, Laguna.
To implement their plans for technical training and special warfare, the Special Warfare Division was created in September, 1950 with Angel Baking as Chief. Mission was to teach HMBs the technique of making homemade bombs, booby traps, land mines, use of wireless. Expansion plans were being implemented full blast. Balgos with 200 HMBs went to Bicol, Briones to Ilocos, Sawit for Cagayan Valley, Manaoag to Batangas and Cavite. A special force under Pamintuan was sent to Manila. Capadocia spearheaded expansion in the Visayas.
At its height, the Communist revolt counted with about 15,000 organized strength with about 13,000 firearms of assorted types. The fast deteriorating peace and order conditions aroused public sentiment. Congress and the President were blaming each other for the deplorable situation. Manila's population was swelling by hundreds of thousands who sought protection from Huk raids and attacks in isolated towns. Barangays and civil guards were being organized to help defend the towns and barrios.
On September 1, 1950 the President appointed Ramon Magsaysay as Secretary of National Defense. He was a man from the masses, who understood the problem thoroughly, an experienced guerrilla fighter, humble, courageous, and dedicated to the cause of freedom and democracy. His first move was to clean the Armed Forces of incompetent, abusive and corrupt personnel in order to restore the confidence of the people in their Army. To this end, he was quick to reward the brave ones with either decorations or spot promotions. He placed the Army in the role of helping the economic social development of rural areas and get the assistance of the ECA (U. S.) in the work of bringing prosperity and social justice to the poverty-stricken people. Desiring to know the facts firsthand, he traveled extensively, talked with soldiers in the field, directed operations, talked to civilians in far-flung barrios, slept and ate with them whenever he could. He initiated the giving of rewards to surrendered, captured or killed Huk leaders and protection to those who affect such feats. He encouraged civilians to come to him and report directly or by letter and telegram collect. He organized the Psywar effort that counteracted Communist propaganda with tangible offers, such as land for the landless.
In less than two months in office, Magsaysay achieved his first big success on October 18, 1950, when, the Politburo (In) was completely broken with the arrest of all the members, in a daring raid conducted in the city of Manila by the Military Intelligence Service under his supervision. In the words of William Pomeroy, this is how the news was received by the Huks in the field: "One evening, a few days after the end of the school Reg (Taruc, brother of Luis) who had a radio, burst into our hut and stood there looking at us, his face a picture of pain. 'Comrades,' he said, in a particularly strained voice, 'bad news.' He stood there silent for a moment while we jumped to our feet. 'The whole city organization has been smashed. All PB members in Manila have been captured.' He stood. No one spoke for a long time." Taken in the raid were many of the keenest minds and best organizers in the whole Huk movement and two truckloads of documents containing complete plans of their activities, files of previous activities and drafts for the whole period of the preparation for the national seizure of power. The PB (Out) took over leadership and they abandoned plans for the 20th anniversary celebration of the CPP on November 7, 1950 with the seizure of plans for the coordinated attack. In retaliation, and to restore morale among the rank and file, the Huks launched a series of holdups, arson, killing, kidnapping. Among these were: Commander Amat and his flying Squadron held up MRR at Binan, fled with cash loot of $76,000. 100 Huks attacked San Marcelino, Zambales, burning 34 houses, kidnapped 10 civilians and butchered 22 residents. 50 Huks surprised a PC garrison at Palawig, Zambales, got 21 rifles and killed 2 soldiers. The Hardie Farm near Antipolo, Rizal was raided by Huks, killing Mr. and Mrs. Hardie and the foreman.
The AFP intensified its campaign, using the information gained from captured documents and revelations made by captured Politburo members. One after the other, Huk commanders hiding in the city of Manila and neighboring towns fell into the dragnet of the MIS. Huk lairs and hideouts in the city were raided. With the capture of Maclang, Liaison Officer with the CB, and secret documents linking the CB with the movement, the Chinese began to be apprehensive. Not long after the capture of the PB, the MIS staged another raid and apprehended the members of the Chinese Bureau. The remnants of the CPP and HUKs went in hiding deep in mountain lairs where they are now trying to recoup.
The tide had changed. Magsaysay initiated vigorous economic programs to rehabilitate the suffering masses, as well as surrendered and captured dissidents and continued his Strong-Army policy against the Communist die-hards who had chosen to pursue their Communist objectives.
To give time to prepare cases against the PB, CLO and the CB, the President issued Proclamation No. 210, suspending the writ of habeas corpus. The CPP reacted quickly by getting the pink newspapers to voice their indignation and accusations that the government was trampling on the democratic rights of citizens. The CLU joined in the protest but was silenced after a captured document, made public, revealed that the CLU action was Communistinspired. The legal battle in court started with the accused CPP leaders represented by legal luminaries such as Recto, Araneta, Barredo, Baisas, Salonga, Laurel, Teehankee, and Villanueva. After three long years of trial, the PB members were convicted, sentenced. Sentences ranged from death to long terms in prison. Up to the present, the cases are on appeal in the Supreme Court.
DISCUSSION Query: What was the military organization of the Hukbalahap? Did they organize in three forces, such as mobile columns, local or regional guerrilla units and a home guard?
Answer: (Col Valeriano). Yes. They did have all these units, but under different names. For instance, the mobile units. Their version of mobile units were called ''Striking Forces." These were actually the Huks' principal fighting forces for major operations, and employed very mobile tactics. They operated directly under the Huk commander, Luis Taruc.
The second thing that you asked was about area or static guerrilla units. As Colonel Lapus mentioned, the Huks had area or regional commands in which they maintained active elements of approximately company size, which were called squadrons. Home guards, yes. They had what they called the Barrio Unit Defense Corps units, formed from local residents activated on call. These units were commonly known in the Philippines as the Huk home guard.
Query: What was the organization of the mobile columns? Did they have battalions, regiments, and so on? Did they carry heavy weapons?
Answer: (Col Valeriano). In the Philippines, we found that the striking force strength varied. A striking force would move out of its redoubt area and move towards its target, gathering strength along the way. In this way, by the time it reached the target area, the basic element of the striking force would be augmented by two or three times its size when it left its redoubt. This augmentation was principally by area squadrons. There was a time when a striking force could gather as many as 500 well armed men. Armaments varied. There was no standard armament, but we did find that the best arms in the hands of the Huks were carried by these striking forces. The squadrons also varied in strength and in equipment.
Answer: (Gen Lansdale). I'd like to comment to the Vietnamese, officers here that the Huks in organization, tactics, and strength were very similar to the Viet Cong you are now facing down in your Fifth Region. They are not similar to the Viet Minh organization against the French. In that campaign, the Viet Minh had more formal organizations.
Query: Can you give me the relative strength of the Huks and of your armed forces in one of their major operations?
Answer: (Col Valeriano). I will tell you about a particular case, the ambush of Mrs. Quezon, the widow of our first President. The Huks, with a strength of 250 men, ambushed her party along a lonely road, killing her, several members of her family, and a number of military personnel who were with the party. There was a tremendous public reaction, a demand that the Philippine Constabulary produce results. I was placed in command of a force which ultimately numbered 3, 000 men, with orders to achieve and maintain contact with the ambushing force until it was destroyed. After seven months of continuous operation in wild, virtually unexplored mountains, I was able to report to GHQ that the five squadrons involved and their 250 men had been wiped out or captured.
Query: Did the Huk have outside assistance? If so how was this rendered?
Answer: (Gen Lansdale). Colonel Lapus touched on some international aspects, in the description of the Communist Party in the Philippines, how it was formed, with the fact that some of the Communists there went to Moscow, went to Peking, were in with both the Chinese and the Russian Communist Parties.
However, during the Huk campaign, the military campaign, there was no substantial outside assistance in a large material way, no assistance with arms or supplies. There were no regular submarine or air supply routes operating. They did receive some funds at times, and so on. Couriers did come in, of course, but usually through normal routes of travel. I believe that is about all we can say in a general discussion.
Query: Did I understand you to say that the Huks were never established on any of the other islands except Luzon? Is this true and is there any reasonable explanation?
Answer: (Maj Justiniano). This is not true. From 1946 through 1951 the Huks were actively pushing an expansion program. They had in fact what they called their expansion force, with a primary mission of initiating Huk movements in other islands. They met with very considerable success on Panay Island. However, through troop action and a very daring and successful infiltration operation under the direction of Colonel Lapus here, we were able to crush the movement entirely, killing its leader, a high ranking member of the Politburo. Query: Why was the expansion movement unsuccessful?
Answer: (Maj Bohanan). As I see it, there were two principal reasons for failure. One was that the Huk propaganda line was not sufficiently flexible. It was not well adapted to conditions prevailing in localities other than Central Luzon. The other reason is that expansion activities were usually recognized and vigorously repressed by local authorities, by the constabulary, and even at times by citizen leaders in the communities.
Incidentally, in that Panay operation masterminded by Colonel Lapus, the infiltrators never revealed themselves until the commander was killed. After the second in command learned of his leader's death, he turned to his two principal staff officers, asking: "What do we do?" Their answer was to tell him that he was under arrest.