Hukbalahap

The Hukbalahap was the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (PKP), formed in 1942 to fight the Japanese Empire's occupation in the Philippines during World War II. It fought a second war from 1946 to 1954 against the pro-Western leaders of their newly independent country. The term is a contraction of the Filipino term "Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon" which means "People's Army Against the Japanese." The group is more commonly known as Huks.

History

The Hukbalahap began as several groups of resistance against the Imperial Japanese Army that occupied the Philippines after the defeat of the American-Filipino military forces in the early days of World War II.

Its strength came from the mostly agrarian peasants of Central Luzon. The group's leaders, among them figure-head Luis Taruc, communist party Secretary General Jose Lava and Commander Hizon (Benjamin Cunanan), aimed at leading the Philippines toward Marxist ideals and communist revolution. The Hukbalahap Insurrection (1946-1954) was their attempt to take over the Philippines. The Hukhbalahap's goals are often inaccurately portrayed by fellow travelers as terrorists; however, they only extended their guerrilla warfare campaign for over a decade merely in search of recognition as World War II freedom fighters and former American allies who deserved a share of war reparations.

The group grew quickly and by late summer of 1943 claimed to have 20,000 active military fighters and 50,000 more in reserve, stealing most of their weaponry from battlefields and downed planes left behind by the Japanese and Americans. They fought Japanese troops to rid the country of its imperialist occupation, worked to subvert the Japanese tax-collection service, intercepted food and supplies to the Japanese troops, and created a training school where they taught political theory and military tactics based on Marxist ideas.

In areas that the group controlled, they set up local governments and instituted land reforms, dividing up the largest estates equally between the peasants and often killing the landlords. After the war, the Hukbalahaps remained active (although to a lesser extent and greatly subverted by government troops), committing rape, robberies and other attacks (including murder), usually against unarmed civilians. However, the veracity of these negative actions attributed to the Huks is uncertain and may only be American propaganda.

In 1949, Hukbalahap members ambushed and murdered Aurora Quezon, Chairman of the Philippine Red Cross and widow of the Philippines' second president, Manuel L. Quezon, as she was en route to her hometown for the dedication of the Quezon Memorial Hospital. Several others were also killed, including her eldest daughter and son-in-law. This attack brought worldwide condemnation on the Hukbalahaps, who claimed that the attack was done by "renegade" members. The continuing condemnation prompted the Huk leaders to adopt the name as the 'Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan' or the 'People's Liberation Army' in 1950.

Public sympathies for the movement had been waning due to their postwar attacks, and what remained evaporated following the Quezon ambush. Without the protection of local supporters, active "Huk" resistance was eventually defeated in 1954 by the government of President Ramon Magsaysay.

After the Sino-Soviet split, the Maoists in the older pro-USSR Communist Party left in 1968 to form the new Communist Party of the Philippines. In 1969, in something of a Huk revival, the splinter CPP formed the New People's Army and launched a "protracted people's war" that lasts to this day. In 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos cited this terrorism as the reason for his imposition of martial law.

Sources

Bautista, Alberto Manuel. "The Hukbalahap Movement in the Philippines, 1942-1952". University of California: 1952.