Honolulu Record, August 19, 1948, vol. 1 no. 3, p. 3
By Anthony Piestra
Manila—At the Aug. 15 deadline for the surrender of guerrilla weapons in the Philippines, only about 10 of an estimated 200,000 members of the Hukbalahap (wartime anti-Japanese peasant forces) have turned in their arms, according to government officials.
The fierce fighting between Huks and Philippine troops, which lasted two and a half years and took thousands of lives, ceased early in July.
Under these conditions, the amnesty negotiated by Pres. Elpidio Quirino and Huk leader Luis Taruc two months ago remains an armed truce. No one knows how long the peace will last.
Seeds of Distrust Despite the Quirino-Taruc agreement, the peasants in the Hukbalahap are suspicious. They have long and bitter memories.
They saw the landlords—many of whom fled or joined up with the Japanese when Luzon was invaded—form private militias to continue the feudal system and crush the National Peasants Union (PKM). They know that the same Congress which once barred Taruc from taking his rightfully-elected seat is still in power. Despite the amnesty program, the peasants wonder whether the tiger's changing his stripes will soften his claws.
The president of the PKM, Mateo Del Castillo, opposed arms surrender as part of the amnesty program. He went into hiding, announcing he would come out when he was sure the government was sincere. This wait-and-see attitude is shared by the soldiers he once commanded.
War Record
The peasants say the arms belong to them. They were seized in bloody battles from the Japanese and from the government constabulary and "civilian guards" who even today remain intact and well-armed, ever-ready to continue the fight to crush them. Some guns were originally given to the Huks by the Americans for whom the Huks furnished combatwise manpower against Japan.
To the Huks, who killed more than 25,000 Japanese in 1,200 engagements, the war record of too many government officials is open to doubt. They accuse some of having collaborated with the invaders, others of having made fortunes in the black market and still others of running away until the Japanese were driven out.
Clash With Vested Interest
The impasse in Central Luzon is a reflection of a bigger struggle and one which the Filipinos are watching keenly. Even if Quirino is serious about breaking up the large estates and selling them to the peasants on long-term payments, as he has promised, he is sure to meet the bitter resistance of present owners.
The richest Central Luzon land is in absentee hands, including U. S. companies which control almost one-third. The remainder is divided up between Spanish and Filipino corporations with, the church controlling more than 120,000 acres of tax-free "friar land."
American businessmen are worried about the growing strength of the Huks and the PKM, whose combined membership has jumped from 250,000 to one million in the last two years.
The Congress of Labor Organizations' influence among the city workers also makes foreign financiers squeamish. At the same time the Philippine people are worried by the Bell Act which makes the islands practically an American colony, and by the tens of thousands of GIs stationed in 21 bases.
Foreign Intervention
The conflict is between the foreign investors, particularly American, who want a hard-fisted anti-labor, landlord-protecting government, and the workers and farmers who seek full constitutional liberties and a better standard of living. If the Quirino administration takes the path of democracy far enough down the road so the peasants" can see it in their villages, the Huks will turn in their weapons. If foreign pressure wins out and the government resorts to the mailed fist, the arms now in hiding will he taken out and civil war will come again to Luzon. This time, however, it will spread to all the islands.