What You Need To Know About The Hukbalahap6 min read

During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Hukbalahap came up with a formidable resistance army that was primarily composed of peasant farmers. Their primary objective being to fight against Japanese soldiers in Central Luzon. The insurgents made use of guerrilla warfare tactics to fight against Japanese forces in villages. The Huks greatly protected Central Luzon during that period of fighting; Huk justice was the supreme power.

The Hukbalahap Rebellion led to chaos and anarchy. The United States encouraged the government of the Philippines to disarm and also apprehend rebelling Huks on allegations of communism. Constant mistreatment and harassment against small-time activists became widespread as the Philippine Constabulary as well as the United States Army Forces in the Far East went after these peasant activists.

A significant number of civilians were either maimed or killed, and as a result, the Huks opted to move into mountainous regions and back to their guerrilla way of life.

Social change before the war

Towards the end of 19th Century and at the beginning of 20th Century, the market in the Philippines opened up to North Americans as a result of American’s victory against Spain and Philippines in the years 1898 and 1902 (in that order).

The grand arrival of foreigners from the United States was undoubtedly marked by the rapid spread of capitalism that had already been introduced by Spaniards. The result was significant increase in trade volumes between the two nations- US and Philippines. Owners of land opted to grow sugar cane, tobacco, and other cash crops instead of the conventional cereals- and they would subsequently export them to the United States.

Emergence of peasant organizations

A majority of poor people were turned into beggars, while many others started stealing from government warehouses because of two main reasons:

1. Many peasants had lost their jobs;

2. A majority of landowners had uprooted staple food crops and replaced them with cash crops.

During this difficult period, there was widespread despair in the area. Consequently, several peasant organizations came up in the early 1930s. They included: Samahang Magsasaka, KPMP (National- Council- of- Peasants- in the Philippines), Kabisang Tales and Sakdai, among others.

The primary objective was to help go back to the conventional tenancy system. However, they started using different techniques of protesting such as strikes, contesting for local leadership positions, filing of petitions against the president and other senior government officials and filing lawsuits against errant landlords as well.

Hukbalahap Rebellion – Japan

Towards the end of 1941, Japanese soldiers marched into Philippine territory. The latter sought help from the United States under the umbrella of United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) to help defend its territory, since its military capacity was inferior to that of the Japanese. In spite of limited capacity, peasants living in Central Luzon still managed to fight against the enemies.

Peasant organizations set up in the 1930s dictated the conditions for resistance. During the invasion by Japanese forces, the organizations transformed into a formidable underground political government- complete with a working military that consisted of more than 60 squadrons.

Hukbalahap Rebellion against the government of the Philippines

The Huks generally expected that life would return to the normal conditions that existed before the 2nd World War. However, that did not happen.

A majority of owners of large tracts of land collaborated with invaders during the infamous Japanese invasion. For that reason, they had already lost interest in the once popular tenancy farming. In addition to that, a good number of landowners had relocated to Manila while the war was still going on.

Economic instability was not the only challenge that Huks had to overcome. Soldiers attached to USAFFE, landlords as well as Philippine Constabulary repressed and became extremely hostile to the Huks, and these actions made their hardships even worse.

Independent Philippines

Another insurgency against the government of President Roxas was mounted by Huks just a few days after the grisly murder of Feleos, and soon after Philippine had gained independence.

Once again, the rebels moved into mountainous regions to preserve their lives and consequently adopted the name Hukbong- Magpapalaya- ng- Bayan. When loosely translated to English, the name means Liberation Army of the People. Hukbalahap Rebellion further worsened due to enhanced campaigns by the Philippine government.

In a concerted effort to stop the resurgence, President Roxas applied an elaborate Mailed Fist Policy, hoping that the objective would be achieved within two months. Philippine Constabulary also intensified operations against them. The president felt that the rebels had transformed into communists and therefore needed to be suppressed.

Alleged involvement of the Soviet Union

Stephen Morris- a professor at Harvard University- carried out a scientific study on the relationship that existed between the communist organization in the Philippines and the then powerful Soviet Union. He discovered that there was absolutely no evidence to prove that the SU ever supported Huk rebels by providing weapons. However, the professor found evidence that suggested the Soviet Union provided them with propaganda.

It is important to note that before the infamous Sino- Soviet separation, the United- Soviet- Socialist- Republic gave China liberty to support communists in East Asia. As a result, the USSR provided support to the Philippines communism- based political parties that practiced no violence.

Resolution of Hukbalahap Rebellion

Negotiations between the government and Huk rebels started in earnest, but they collapsed in mid-August 1948. Immediately after the collapse of the negotiations, insurgents led by the infamous Luis Taruc went back to the mountainous region of Sierra Madre to hide.

However, the uprising started losing steam in the middle of 20th Century. There are two major reasons that led to decline of Hukbalahap Rebellion:

First, the people had fought for several years and as a result, they had become tired. Many high-flying leaders of the Huk people could not fight well because of age-related complications, and many others had died. The army was in hot pursuit of Luis Taruc and other few rebel leaders who could still fight. Eventually, villagers became tired of providing support to the Huks.

The second reason is that President Quirino had moved the anti-Huk crusades from the interior and local Government department to the National Defense department. Under the leadership of the tenacious Ramon Magsaysay, inefficient officials were bundled out of the army, and corruption became minimal.

The rebellion was eventually crushed by Ramon Magsaysay through multiple military victories as well as reforms. The rebel leader, Luis Taruc, surrendered to authorities in May 1954 and accepted to serve a prison term of 15 years. Magsaysay later became the country’s president.