The Hukbalahap Rebellion PDF

The Hukbalahap Rebellion Date Created @May 5, 2024 6:44 PM Our sources Kerkvliet, Benedit — Prelude to Rebellion Lanzona, Vina — Comrades in Arms: Huk Women, Nationalism, and Communist Revolution Pante, Michael — Jeprox Ambiguity Recap How do you solve the destruction from the war? MONEY! Did this t...

The Hukbalahap Rebellion Date Created @May 5, 2024 6:44 PM Our sources Kerkvliet, Benedit — Prelude to Rebellion Lanzona, Vina — Comrades in Arms: Huk Women, Nationalism, and Communist Revolution Pante, Michael — Jeprox Ambiguity Recap How do you solve the destruction from the war? MONEY! Did this through a “loan” from America in exchange for free trade and parity for 8 years after independence → Tensions between social classes Lecture Today Let’s go back to past events that caused more things to happen to form the resistance to the elite Our Sources Kerkvliet, Benedit: Prelude to Rebellion Main Question: How post-war conditions shape the nation as it assumes sovereignty? Let’s go back to the time we were fresh out of Japanese occupation What was happening in the unoccupied territories? People in Central Luzon were unoccupied and were led by the Huk So what will the Huk be doing after the war? Towards Liberation The Hukbalahap Rebellion 1 Context: Pretty clear to the Filipinos, Japanese, and Americans was that when the Americans were starting to comeback, Americans would take over the country again The Huks were already from past labor organizations and they needed to have a plan since the Americans are coming The Communist Party of the Philippines (PKP) committed to the following rules: 1. To prevent collaborators from holding political office; 2. To campaign for immediate independence; Because they were not happy during the American colonial period, so their view was we shouldn’t go back to that 3. To push the returning Osmena administrators to endorse reforms that would benefit lower to middle class Filipinos Before the Americans would go to Manila, parts of Central Luzon are already liberated Remember: The movement of migration When Huks were taking over the unoccupied territories, landlords stayed in Manila during the occupation. When the Americans were returning, the landlords realized they would be in the center of all the fighting and they didn’t want to be in that position, so they went back to their lands, anyway the war is already over. Towards Liberation Returning landlords demanded back rent and refused to share in production expenses; Tenants had no more avenue for interest-free loans; interest rates went up to 100-200%; The war affects everybody but the severity and gravity were just different The landlords wanted to earn back what they lost asap Landlords treated tenants like servants and slaves; The Hukbalahap Rebellion 2 You as a tenant will stay in that land and in exchange for staying in that land, you will farm. The landlords started to make them do stuff that slaves did Disputes sometimes led to evictions Remember: The Huk held the line of defense against the Japanese so they would want to be involved in liberation so they were looking to work with the Americans Despite their shared fight against the Japanese, the Americans were hostile to the Huks The Americans treated the Huks and the USAFFE guerilla differently The method was sneaky. They first told my men that if they turned in their old arms, they would replace them with newer models. But they never did. Instead, American forces told the Huks to “go back home.” - Silvestre Liwanag Malolos Massacre February 19, 1945 USAFFE colonel Adonias Maclang charged the guerillas of raiding and looting Malolos During the war, he thought that the best course of action was to wait for MacArthur The Huks called him a Tulisaffe Maclang found a way to get back at the Huks The guerillas were sentenced without trial; 109 Huk guerillas were massacred They would be asked to dig a large hole, 109 Huks would go inside that and they would be shot to death This was when MacArthur was proclaiming that the war is already over and some small incident in the mountains only The Hukbalahap Rebellion 3 Prominent guerilla leaders: Luis Taruc, Casto Alejandrini, and 14 others arrested in early 1945 Surrender of the Hukbalahap, September 1945 Luis Taruc gave a roster of Huk soldiers to President Osmena upon their release under the following conditions for the surrender; 1. Stop the mistreatment by the government officials and the USAFFE soldiers in the countryside; 2. Acknowledge the contribution of the Hukbalahap during the war 3. A 60-40 share of harvests between tenants and landlords with equal share of production costs This is a battle they have been fighting for eversince What happened to this conditions? 1. The Huks were not recognized as war veterans, Americans recognized some but not all. The Americans wanted to do divide and conquer to break up the organization The values the Huk were fighting for did not align with American values of democracy; and that they were organized fighting against the Japanese They also feared that the Huks were spreading communist ideals They do not want to validate the Huks So many people were also against the Huks (the landlords, the USAFFE, etc) The Huks offered amnesty did not take it 2. Unrest in San Ricardo, Talavera The landlords abandoned the 60-40 agreement In December 1945, tensions between tenants and landlords rose due to abandoned 60-40 share agreement Tensions rose The Hukbalahap Rebellion 4 Private armies/ civilian armies were used by the landlords against the Huks USAFFE were employed to be private armies of the landlords Anything can lead to unrest at this point A group of Huk veterans ambusehd the armed guards of a large landowner The landlords and the government go against the Huks From late 1945 to April 1946 (before the elections), Central Luzon became heavily militarized The Huks knew that this military was not neutral, it was to protect the landlords The roster of Huk members was used to arrest the soldiers and organizers The names were circulated to the landlords; Huk members faced eviction and unemployment The Huk decided that tenants have to protect themselves, they cannot do it alone, but they can do it together. So they started organizing Standing alone, a peasant cannot do much. But together, peasants could stand up to the landlords - Robert Aspia The Pambansang Kaisahan ng mga Magbubukid (PKM) Continue to advocate for through protests: 1. Better relations with landowners; 2. Low interest loans and banks where peasants borrow money 3. Stronger implementation of existing laws to protect peasants from losing their land 4. Justice for everyone regardless of social standing 5. Recognition of the Huks as war veterans 6. Driving Japanese collaborators out of government The Hukbalahap Rebellion 5 The Democratic Alliance in the 1946 Elections If you’re part of PKM, most likely you’re part of this as well. The difference is, they have different strategies The Democratic Alliance was committed to forming its own slate for the 1946 national elections to replace landlords and collaborators in office In February 1946, Patricio del Rosario was murdered by civilian guards to serve as a threat to stop supporting DA candidates But it did not deter support for candidates The DA won 6 out of 23 Congress seats and a decisive victory in Central Luzon (Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, and Tarlac) Initially, the DA was supposed to have its own ticket for President and VP but decided against it to ensure that Roxas does not win the presidency The fear was once the movement of the DA spread, it would be a major force to be reckoned with Roxas and Hukbalahap Military presence in Central Luzon grew even stronger The DA Congressmen-elect were barred from taking their seats The Pacification Program Roxas trying to solve the Huk problem and was supposed to take away the arms and weapons Armed peasants would register their guns on the condition that the Huk would be recognized as an anti-Japanese army and the civilian guards would be removed from Central Luzon Attacks on both sides continued There was no way to find out why the attacks continued but they still persisted In August 1946, Juan Feleo was kidnapped and his body was later found in the Pampanga river Feleo’s murder ended the Pacification Program and started the Huk rebellion The Hukbalahap Rebellion 6 The Huks were frustrated, they tried everything and even tried to go the legal path but there was no point in this For the next 8 years, the Huk rebellion continues because they go back to guerilla activities You will find that there are enough Filipinos who have learned a lot in the last war and who will not give up in peace social gains acquired during that war… But they should know that they could never bomb out the people’s new-found hopes and convictions—that democracy, freedom, and a lasting peace are for all, including the common men who feed the nation when it is starving and fight for it when it is in danger. - Luis Taruc in a letter to Manuel Roxas The Failure of the Huk Rebellion Peasant support for the resistance was overpowered by their more pragmatic economic interests At one point, peasants started to stop their support because they were so tired of the fighting With the support of the Americans, the Armed Forces of the Philippines was able to grow stronger and more popular to the citizens A spontaneous massive migration from Huk-influenced areas in Northern and Central Luzon to Mindanao also distilled the breakout of social unrest By 1954, the Huk rebellion begins to end—Luis Taruc surrenders to President Quirino and reopens negotiation We followed the Huks experience During the Japanese occupation they were like underdogs that you want to root for The Hukbalahap Rebellion 7 But it ended sadly as what happened to them during post-war The social class continued to affect the dynamics of what they faced then and what we are facing today The Hukbalahap Rebellion 8