Hukbalahap (Huk) movement

Hukbalahap (Huk) movement (Philippines) A left-wing guerrilla movement consisting of two successive groups, the People's Anti-Japanese Army, which was the main focus of the resistance movement during World War II, and the People's Liberation Army, which emerged from the former and was predominantly active 1946–52. It was composed largely from tenant organizations formed before World War II against the great capitalist estate owners and local elites. During the war, these organizations were formed into an effective resistance movement, largely through the efforts of the Huk leader on Luzon (the largest Philippine island), Luis Taruc. By the end of the war it virtually controlled central Luzon, the ‘breadbasket of the Philippines’. When Taruc was refused a seat in the Congress although elected (April 1946), he retreated to the jungle and began terrorist activities against the great estates as head of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). By 1950 there was more or less open war against the landlord elite. Although only loosely allied to the Philippine Communist Party, against the background of the Cold War and the Korean War, the PLA was increasingly combated with US help as a Communist revolt. Taruc surrendered in 1954, thanks partly to the persuasion of young B. Aquino.