The Hukbalahaps

The Militant, 15 December 1945

The Philippines today are a powder keg, reports an October 29 dispatch to the N.Y. Times. The Hukbalahaps (People's Anti-Japanese Army) and other ‘unrecognized guerrillas’ roam the land with rifles on their shoulders and ideas for government in their heads and with hatred of the landed aristocracy in their hearts.

A secret U.S. Army intelligence report, made public during the trial of General Yamashita, declares that the Hukbalahaps' policy is definitely Communistic and...its plans include the establishment of a Communistic government in the Philippines after the war, on the early Russian model.

American officials hate and fear the Hukbalahaps because their program calls for the breaking up of the widespread feudal farming system inherited from the Spanish dons.

Although the Hukbalahap is the largest and most powerful organization of Filipinos who are fighting against imperialist rule, other similar groups likewise retain their arms. PM correspondent, David Boguslav, states that all guerrillas including the Huks may number as many as 600,000 and cannot be less than 200,000.