Hukbalahap Rebellion
The Hukbalahap Rebellion was a rebellion staged by former Hukbalahap or Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (lit. 'People's Army Against Japan') soldiers against the Philippine government. It started in 1942 during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, continued during the presidency of Manuel Roxas, and ended in 1954 under the presidency of Ramon Magsaysay.
With peasants out of work and cash crops being preferred to staple food, peasants started begging and stealing from the rice warehouses of the government.[2] There was despair during this troubled decade.[1] The early 1930s saw the formation of many small peasant unions, including:
The objective of these movements was broadly to revert to the traditional tenancy system. The means of protest varied from strikes, to petitions of government officials (including the president) to court cases against landlords to winning local office.
In 1939, the two largest peasant organizations merged: The AMT with 70,000 members and the KPMP with 60,000.[2] They participated in the 1940s election by joining with the Partido Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PSP), a rural peasant political party, and ran with a complete slate of candidates under the Popular Front ticket in Pampanga. Although Pedro Abad Santos, the founder of the PSP, did not win a seat, his party became synonymous with the peasant movements and eventually with the Huks. His right-hand man was Luis Taruc, the future supreme commander of the Huks.
Rebellion[edit]
Japan[edit]
In December 1941, the Japanese Army invaded the Philippines.[1] The country did not have sufficient military capacity to protect its citizens and needed the help of the US, under the USAFFE, to defend the country. Still, the peasants of Central Luzon fought against the Japanese for their own survival. The organized peasant movements of the 1930s in Central Luzon set the conditions for organized resistance against the Japanese. During the Japanese occupation, the organization became an underground political government[2] with a fully functioning military committee composed of 67 squadrons in 1944.[2]
On March 29, 1942, 300 peasant leaders[3] decided to form the Hukbalahap or the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon. This event marks the moment when the peasant movement became a guerrilla army. The Huks collected arms from civilians, gathered arms from retreating American and Filipino forces and prevented banditry.[2] By September 1942, there were 3,000 Huks under arms.[3] and by 1946 the Huks numbered about 10,000.[3] The Huk army was composed of squadrons, and squadrons were composed of squads. In the town of Talavera, Nueva Ecija alone, there were 3 squadrons, with about 200 men each.[2]
Its top commanders were Casto Alejandrino (AMT, PSP), Felipa Culala (KPMP), Bernardo Poblete (AMT), and Luis Taruc (AMT, PSP), with Taruc being the supreme military commander.[4] The communists claimed that the Hukbalahap was communist-led and initiated.[5] Prior to the war, none of the top leaders had any connections with the PKP.[2] and interviews conducted by Kerkvliet with members afterwards also points to a non-bias towards any ideology.
The Huks were well received by the villagers and were seen as their protector from the abuses of the Japanese. Nationalism, empathy, survival, and revenge, all served as primary motives for the people to join.[2] Those who could not join the guerrilla army joined the underground government via its "secretly converted neighborhood associations", called Barrio United Defense Corp (BUDC).
The HUKBALAHAP also tried to recruit beyond Central Luzon[2] but were not as successful. Nonetheless, the Huks fought side by side with local troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, the Philippine Constabulary, and the USAFFE, helping to repel the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.
Alleged Soviet involvement[edit]
In his study of the relationship between the Soviet Union and the communist movement in the Philippines, Harvard University's Stephen J Morris wrote that "There is no evidence that the Soviet Union ever provided weapons to the communist-led Huk insurgents, but in their struggle, the Philippine communists were receiving at least propaganda support from the Soviet Union."[12] Prior to the Sino-Soviet split, the USSR allowed China to take the lead role in supporting communist groups in East Asia and subsequently the USSR supported only the non-violent communist political party in the Philippines.[13]
In 1949, a New York Times reporter in Manila relayed reports that Soviet submarines were allegedly providing guns, ammunition, and supplies to the Huks.[14]
