A nationalist, folk hero and defender of social justice, Luis Mangalus Taruc was born of peasant parents in San Luis, Pampanga on 21st of June 1913, like his father Nicanor, he became a farmer. After high school in Tarlac, he enrolled at the University of Manila, he dropout of college and opted to become a tailor in San Miguel, Bulacan.
He was deeply into socialism & in 1935 exposed to agrarian injustices and poverty around him decided to leave his haberdashery business to his wife so he can help, protect and serve the poor, maltreated and suffering peasants. Influenced by his idol socialist Pedro Abad Santos of San Fernando, Taruc joined his "Aguman ding Maldang Tala-pagobra" (AMT, Union of Peasant Workers) and in 1938, the "Partido Socialista." When the latter evolved into the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, where he became an officer of rank.
During the 2nd World War, Taruc, together with Casto Alejandrino, Felipa Culala (Kumander Dayang-Dayang) and Bernardo Poblete (Kumander Banal of Minalin), founded the "Hukbalahap" movement (Hukbong Laban sa Mga Hapon) in a barrio of Concepcion, Tarlac on 29 March 1942. He lead a 30,000 strong guerrilla group against the Japanese invaders, harassing and attacking them at every opportunity. Hukbalahap was organized under the able leadership of Supremo Luis Taruc who they called "Lu-Lu" ("the racing one"), then "Alipato" ("the flying spark that spreads a fire"), chairman of the military committee of the united front, then the field commander of the HMB. Throughout the armed conflict of the Huks against the Japanese, in late 1943, during its political expansion, the Huks launched anew its overt operations against the Japanese which brought them into conflict with the USAFFE (United States Army Forces in the Far East) sponsored guerrilla units under an American officer Mackenzie who was spreading vicious rumors that the Huks were bandits. The result was some clashes with these guerrilla units which existed until the landing of the US "liberation forces" in October of 1944.
70,000 troops on Bataan under General Edward P. King, after months of fighting the invading Japanese Army and with food and medicine exhausted, accepting sole responsibility to disobey MacArthur's orders, chose to surrender his troops on the 9th of April, 1942. With Bataan now under Japanese control, the enemy turned their full attention to Corregidor. General Wainwright and his 26,000 troops at Corregidor were the last organized resistance on Luzon. The situation at the island of Corregidor was no better, the soldiers were weary, wounded, malnourished and diseased. At exactly noon on May 6, 1942, General Jonathan M. Wainwright surrendered to Japanese General Homma and by June 9, Allied forces had completely surrendered.
The starving Luis Taruc and his Hukbalahap, without any help from the US, with few arms and ammunition which they acquired from dead Japanese and surrendering American soldiers, Hukbalahap was the best organized anti-Japanese resistance movements in Asia. They helped and took care American soldiers who were lucky not imprisoned in the hands of the Japanese, astonishingly winning the war, Central Luzon was liberated by the Hukbalahap from the Japanese. On October 25, 1944 Gen. Douglas MacArthur waded ashore at Leyte to announce, "People of the Philippines, I have returned" and Hukbalahap were ordered to surrender their arms to the Americans. They were not recognized by the U.S. Army as real guerrilla fighters. In 1946, Taruc ran for a seat in Congress, which he won together with 6 other Communists. Charged with terrorism, he was unseated, fled to the mountains and vowed to defy the American-supported Roxas government. Luis Taruc was the dominating personality of the Huk insurgency. Between March 1942 and August 1948, the Huks became a trained and experienced force, well-equipped and well-prepared for its guerrilla warfare. The initial force of 500 armed Huks which was organized into five squadrons had increased to a fully-armed guerrilla force of 20,000 men.
But as the election grew near, the Huk reorganized their prewar peasant and labor organizations, formed the political party called, "Democratic Alliance." This party became the base of action for the various elements dissatisfied with the prevailing situation in the country. Further political trouble divided the leading Nationalista Party which resulted in the formation of the Liberal Party with Commonwealth president Manuel Roxas as its candidate. The Liberal Party consisted of conservatives and many of the prominent members were Japanese collaborators during the war.
Manuel Roxas, a very close associate of Gen. McArthur during US colonial administration was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a senator & a member of Quezon cabinet. Upon the escape of Quezon & McArthur from Corregidor because of the sure victory of the invading Japanese forces, Quezon signed a decree making Roxas in line with Qsmena to the presidency in case of his death. April of 1942, Roxas surrendered or captured, was in the hands of the Japanese. The Japanese aware of Roxas' political innovations, offered the puppet presidency before offering the position to Jose Laurel. The assurance of presidency by Quezon under the US might have stop Roxas in accepting the offer. June of 1943, Roxas was the principal author of the puppet constitution & worked in the Laurel cabinet as Minister Without Portfolio. As the 1944 US Invasion of the Philippines Part II near, Laurel & his cabinet member fled to Baquio. April 1945 US troops were in Baquio, Laurel's cabinet; Roxas, Jose Yulo, Quintin Paredes, Antonio de las Alas & Teofilo Sison crossed the US troop lines. Press released by McArthur indicated; Yulo, Paredes, de las Alas & Sison as "captured." Roxas was reported "liberated." Later in our history Manuel Roxas was "the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines."
US sponsored President Roxas declared the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed faction, HMB to be illegal and seditious. The HMB whose sole aim was the overthrow of the government, sought to establish supremacy for the movement by destroying the effectiveness of the AFP. The government realized that the Huks had no intention of any compromise of surrender until their political and economic objectives were attained.
In 1948, Taruc agreed to negotiate terms to then Pres. Elpidio Quirino. In return, Quirino promised to grant amnesty to all surrendering Huks and reinstate Taruc as congressman. Talks failed with the government accusing the Huks of violating the terms of agreement. Once more, Taruc hied off to the mountains and continued his siege. The Government considered the Huk problem a police matter, their anti-Huk campaign, the military merely saturated the Huk strong areas with combat troops and suppressed the tumultuous situations with force. They were unsuccessful and further complicated the problem with numerous abuses which destroyed the respect and confidence of the people on the military. The people left with no security in the rural areas migrated to the relatively secured urban areas. The mass abandonment of the agricultural fields adversely affected the national economy and created the squatter problem. By mid-1950, the Huk attacks increased in unbelievable proportions and the military reacted ruthlessly. In Maliwalu, Pampanga, with the belief that the people there were active Huk supporters, constabulary troopers plundered the town and massacre menfolk. The military inadequacies also reflected in their lack of knowledge of the basic military skills. The AFP did not have the knowledge about the enemy who he was, how he operated, what his objectives were and most importantly, how he gained the support of the people.
The Maliwalu incident, the ambush-killing of the wife of the late President Manuel Quezon and infamous crimes blamed to the Huks, brought increased criticism of the government. President Quirino therefore issued Executive Order number 308 which provide the complete reorganization of the entire armed forces. He also appointed Congressman Ramon Magsaysay of Zambales as the new Secretary of National Defense, in charged with the responsibility of restoring peace and order. CIA's Edward Lansdale took advantage of the situation & became the "personal adviser" of Secretary Magsaysay. Told Magsaysay to instilled in the military that the lost political base of action had to be regained by an integrated military, political and social approach. He emphasized that every soldier must be a public relations man, political warfare specialist, civil administrator and an expert in guerrilla warfare. Underlying his policy was the belief, "Any democratic government is neither of necessity nor automatically better than a communistic government in the eyes of the Common Man." The local government must clean its own house. A status quo that has bred virulent communism cannot remain unchanged. Communism seldom flourishes where the people are content and prosperous basically.
To implement his policy with the advice from CIA Edward Lansdale, Magsaysay had these goals:
1. Unity of command in the military
2. Trust and confidence of the people in the military
3. Active civilian support in military operations
4. Friendship between the people and the military
During Magsaysay's first term as president, Ninoy Aquino was his close adviser and there was a lull in Huk wars, no news about Supremo Luis Taruc. There were rumors he died of illness or was kill in the field, there was also gossips that he had escaped to China by submarine. Scared of the silence that there might be an offensive attack that the Huks are planning with the help of China, Lansdale, Magsaysay and Aquino were curious to find out whatever happened to Taruc. According to Aquino he went to Conception town and tracked down the Huk mayor Gorgonio Narciso to persuaded him to help in locating the Supremo.
Still according to Aquino, Gorgonio Narciso was a friend of Taruc's half-brother Meliton a tailor who refused to join the Huks with his brothers. Meliton's tailoring shop had flourished while it had contracts to do ROTC uniforms, but lost those contracts when some ROTC officers decided it was outrageous to be wearing uniforms tailored by a brother of the Huk Supremo. Aquino said through Meliton he got in touch with a former Huk Juan Calma and from Calma brought in another operative, Teofilo Ortiz. Came later was the Supremo's uncle Arsenio Taruc, Aquino found the bent old man hiding, hauling big baskets of fish at Divisoria Market living in poverty. These four men formed the Aquino's search party, the idea to contact Taruc through any of them.
In mid-February, Aquino received a message from Taruc "He said he was willing to grant me an interview but stipulated that Manuel Manahan, then head of the Presidential Complaints and Action Committee, was to be with me." Aquino went to Magsaysay and told him the Supremo of the Huks Ka Luis Taruc, suggesting a talk. With Magsaysay's approval, Manahan preparing to reply to meet on Valentines Day with Taruc, but the ambitious Aquino was trying on his own to interview the Supremo. Aquino using his proper contacts (Calma, Ortiz, Meliton and Arsenio Taruc), challenged Manahan and Manahan fearing leakage, cooperated.
February 15, Aquino, Romeo Taruc (Luis Taruc's son), Mahanan, Dario Arellano (a photographer) and Moises Escueta who drove the jeep, were on their way from Angeles to meet Taruc to the no man's land beyond Clark Field. The meeting was set at Hacienda Ramona at the foot of Mt. Pinatubo, 7:00 in the evening, an hour passed no trace of the Supremo but young men with in olive drab appeared with Garands, Thompsons and Browning automatic rifles. A while later came a team of heavy armed men and with them was Supremo Taruc. The Supremo had a very gentle voice, humble & greeted them with an old fashion Filipino hospitality. The Supremo asked his son Romeo to stay in one place and stay away from the camera lens, he refused to discuss possibility of peace negotiations between him and the government, he discussed about poverty, injustice, Philippine agrarian reform and willingness to cooperate with Magsaysay and said... "I'm a Filipino first and last, if I did not endorse Magsaysay last election it was because I suspected him of being a dangerously inclined to the American imperialist. But the people had spoken, had elected Magsaysay as their president. It is for us to accept their verdict." The Supremo also believed on the president's promise of internal democratization, agrarian semi-revolution and modest industrialization. The interview lasted three hours, until midnight and photos were taken during the talk. After the interview Taruc and his men escorted Aquino's party to the foot of the mountain pass and said goodbye.
Ninoy Aquino's scoop on Taruc was released by Manahan to all Manila newspapers, but after three days Aquino was informed by his "search team" (Calma, Ortiz, Meliton and Arsenio Taruc), that the Supremo wanted to meet again. According to Aquino, Taruc had fallen out with the Huk movement specially with the Lava brothers and had been relieved as commander-in-chief. The second meeting was on February 18, was held in broad daylight and lasted after sundown. Aquino said that he was convinced that the Supremo is will to negotiate because Taruc was talking about God, socialism, nationalism, about his idol/mentor Pedro Abad Santos and his love for the masses and country.
Again, according to Aquino on the last week of April his "search team" brought him a note from the Supremo, who proposed a meeting in a restaurant called "Apung Gari" in San Fernando. Aquino went to the restaurant, when a little boy came to him and said... "you have been followed, you are being watched. Go to Minalin Church this afternoon." As he went to the church of Minalin, Aquino was approached by a courier... "The Supremo can not come, on the way here last night, we were ambushed."
First week of May, Aquino again received a note from the Supremo on it defined terms on which he'll be willing to come down from the mountains.
1.) the word "surrender" was not to be used to describe his return to society.
2.) that he was to be turned over not to the army but to president Magsaysay.
3.) that he was to be provided with lawyers for his trial.
...and if the president accepted these terms, said the Supremo, Ninoy Aquino was to give a "signal" on Rafael Yabut's popular radio program "Tayo'y Magaliw" by mentioning the line... "Mura ang bigas sa Maynila." If his terms were rejected, the line should be... "Mahal ang bigas sa Maynila." Taruc's terms were accepted and the line... "Mura ang bigas sa Maynila" was the signal for the Supremo to send a note to Aquino... "I'm coming down on May 17, pick me up. I will send a guide who will bring you to where I'm." But Magsaysay changed his mind on the advised of the CIA, Edward Lansdale and army officers. To them a good commie is a dead commie and they want Taruc dead. With the help and support of Manila Times owner Chino Roces, Magsaysay was torn between Aquino, Roces and the CIA/army. Magsaysay scared of bad publicity by the media (Manila Times) he gave in to Aquino's plan.
Finally on May 17, meeting was set early in the morning at Barrio Santa Maria, Pampanga. This time troops was with Aquino, surrounded the area. Meeting was at 6:30 am & if Aquino failed to return by 9:00 am, the troops will blow the place down! According to Aquino... "Taruc was surrounded by the peasants and he looked like them, in a gray peasant shirt, brown pants & straw hat."
After shaking hands, Aquino said... “Do you accept the president's terms?"
Ka Luis Taruc said... "I accept."
Instead of meeting Magsaysay, Taruc was brought to Manila and was accused in court for revolt and terrorism, sentenced to 12 years in prison. After being denied clemency by then president Diosdado Macapagal, he was pardoned by Ferdinand Marcos in September 1968 and finally released. Ninoy Aquino and Luis Taruc didn't see each other since the Supremo was incarcerated, though when asked about Aquino, Taruc never said bad things about him and just said "he tried to do his best." The old Filipino "Don Quixote," the guerrilla hero of WW II, defender of the oppressed workers, farmers, social justice, continue to work for social and agrarian reforms, worked for Huk veterans recognition and for their proper compensation. Ka Luis Taruc passed away on the 4th of May 2005, of heart attack at the St. Luke’s Hospital at age 91. There are no statues, markers to pay tribute to the great Supremo Taruc, so I quote myself...
"Ang tunay na bantayog ay nakatirik sa ating puso at damdamin, ang nagawang lampas sa ating kakayahan ay hindi kinakailangang ipagyabang!"
- - ka tony
the 20th of June '13
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