Commonwealth of the Philippines

The Commonwealth of the Philippines (Tagalog: Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the

administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a
period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 to 1945 when Japan occupied the
country. It replaced the Insular Government, a United States territorial government,
and was established by the TydingsMcDuffie Act. The Commonwealth was designed
as a transitional administration in preparation for the country's full achievement of
independence.
During its more than a decade of existence, the Commonwealth had a strong
executive and a Supreme Court. Its legislature, dominated by the Nacionalista Party,
was at first unicameral, but later bicameral. In 1937, the government selected
Tagalogthe language of Manila and its surrounding provincesas the basis of the
national language, although it would be many years before its usage became
general. Women's suffrage was adopted and the economy recovered to its preDepression level before the Japanese occupation in 1942.
The Commonwealth government went into exile from 1942 to 1945, when the
Philippines was under Japanese occupation. In 1946, the Commonwealth ended and
the Philippines reclaimed full sovereignty as provided for in Article XVIII of the 1935
Constitution.

Names The Commonwealth of the Philippines was also known as the "Philippine
Commonwealth or simply as "the Commonwealth". It had official names in Tagalog:
Kmonwlt ng Pilipinas ([plpins]) and Spanish: Mancomunidad de Filipinas ([fili
pinas]). The 1935 constitution specifies "the Philippines" as the country's short form
name and uses "the Philippine Islands" only to refer to pre-1935 status and
institutions. Under the Insular Government (1901-1935), both terms had official
status.

Creation The pre-1935 U.S. territorial administration, or Insular Government, was

headed by a governor general who was appointed by the president of the United
States. In December 1932, the US Congress passed the HareHawesCutting Act
with the premise of granting Filipinos independence. Provisions of the bill included
reserving several military and naval bases for the United States, as well as imposing
tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports. When it reached him for possible signature,
President Herbert Hoover vetoed the HareHawesCutting Act, but the American
Congress overrode Hoover's veto in 1933 and passed the bill over Hoover's
objections. The bill, however, was opposed by the then Philippine Senate President
Manuel L. Quezon and was also rejected by the Philippine Senate.
This led to the creation and passing of a new bill known as TydingsMcDuffie Act, or
Philippine Independence Act, which allowed the establishment of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines with a ten-year period of peaceful transition to full

independence the date of which was to be on the 4th July following the tenth
anniversary of the establishment of the Commonwealth.
A Constitutional Convention was convened in Manila on July 30, 1934. On February
8, 1935, the 1935 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines was approved by
the convention by a vote of 177 to 1. The constitution was approved by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 23, 1935 and ratified by popular vote on May 14,
1935.
On 17 September 1935, presidential elections were held. Candidates included
former president Emilio Aguinaldo, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente leader Gregorio
Aglipay, and others. Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmea of the Nacionalista Party
were proclaimed the winners, winning the seats of president and vice-president,
respectively.
The Commonwealth Government was inaugurated on the morning of November 15,
1935, in ceremonies held on the steps of the Legislative Building in Manila. The
event was attended by a crowd of around 300,000 people.

Pre-War The new government embarked on ambitious nation-building policies in

preparation for economic and political independence. These included national
defense (such as the National Defense Act of 1935, which organized a conscription
for service in the country), greater control over the economy, the perfection of
democratic institutions, reforms in education, improvement of transport, the
promotion of local capital, industrialization, and the colonization of Mindanao.
However, uncertainties, especially in the diplomatic and military situation in
Southeast Asia, in the level of U.S. commitment to the future Republic of the
Philippines, and in the economy due to the Great Depression, proved to be major
problems. The situation was further complicated by the presence of agrarian unrest,
and of power struggles between Osmea and Quezon, especially after Quezon was
permitted to be re-elected after one six-year term.
A proper evaluation of the policies' effectiveness or failure is difficult due to
Japanese invasion and occupation during World War II.

World War II Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines on December 8,

1941. The Commonwealth government drafted the Philippine Army into the U.S.
Army Forces Far East, which would resist Japanese occupation. Manila was declared
an open city to prevent its destruction, and it was occupied by the Japanese on
January 2, 1942. Meanwhile, battles against the Japanese continued on the Bataan
Peninsula, Corregidor, and Leyte until the final surrender of United States-Philippine
forces on May 1942.
Manuel L. Quezon visiting Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. while in exile

Quezon and Osmea were escorted by troops from Manila to Corregidor, and later
they left for Australia and then the U.S. There they set up a government in exile,
which participated in the Pacific War Council as well as the Declaration by United
Nations. During this exile, Quezon became ill with tuberculosis, and later he died of
it. Osmea replaced him as the president.
Meanwhile, the Japanese military organized a new government in the Philippines
known as the Second Philippine Republic, which was headed by president Jos P.
Laurel. This government ended up being very unpopular.
The resistance to the Japanese occupation continued in the Philippines. This
included the Hukbalahap ("People's Army Against the Japanese"), which consisted of
30,000 armed people and controlled much of Central Luzon. Remnants of the
Philippine Army also successfully fought the Japanese through guerrilla warfare
liberating all but 12 of the 48 provinces.
General MacArthur and President Osmea returning to the Philippines
The American General Douglas MacArthur's army landed on Leyte on October 20,
1944, and they were all welcomed as liberators, along with Philippine
Commonwealth troops when other amphibious landings soon followed. Fighting
continued in remote corners of the Philippines until Japan's surrender in August
1945, which was signed on September 2 in Tokyo Bay. Estimates for Filipino
casualties reached one million, and Manila was extensively damaged when certain
Japanese forces refused to vacate the city (against their orders from the Japanese
High Command).
After the War in the Philippines the Commonwealth was restored and a one-year
transitional period in preparation for independence began. Elections followed in
April 1946 with Manuel Roxas winning as the first president of the independent
Republic of the Philippines and Elpidio Quirino winning as vice-president. In spite of
the years of Japanese occupation, the Philippines became independent exactly as
scheduled a decade before, on July 4, 1946.

Independence The Commonwealth ended when the US recognized Philippine

independence on July 4, 1946, as scheduled. However, the economy remained
dependent on the U.S. This was due to the Bell Trade Act, otherwise known as the
Philippine Trade Act, which was a precondition for receiving war rehabilitation grants
from the United States.

Japanese occupation of the Philippines

The Japanese occupation of the Philippines occurred between 1942 and 1945, when
the Empire of Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World
War II.

The invasion of the Philippines started on December 8, 1941, ten hours after the
attack on Pearl Harbor. As at Pearl Harbor, the American aircraft were severely
damaged in the initial Japanese attack. Lacking air cover, the American Asiatic Fleet
in the Philippines withdrew to Java on December 12, 1941. General Douglas
MacArthur escaped Corregidor on the night of March 11, 1942 for Australia, 4,000
km away. The 76,000 starving and sick American and Filipino defenders on Bataan
surrendered on April 9, 1942, and were forced to endure the infamous Bataan Death
March on which 7,00010,000 died or were murdered. The 13,000 survivors on
Corregidor surrendered on May 6.
Japan occupied the Philippines for over three years, until the surrender of Japan. A
highly effective guerilla campaign by Philippine resistance forces controlled sixty
percent of the islands, mostly jungle and mountain areas. MacArthur supplied them
by submarine, and sent reinforcements and officers. Filipinos remained loyal to the
United States, partly because of the American guarantee of independence, and also
because the Japanese had pressed large numbers of Filipinos into work details and
even put young Filipino women into brothels.
General MacArthur discharged his promise to return to the Philippines on October
20, 1944. The landings on the island of Leyte were accomplished by a force of 700
vessels and 174,000 men. Through December 1944, the islands of Leyte and
Mindoro were cleared of Japanese soldiers.

Background Japan launched an attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1941,

just ten hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor. Initial aerial bombardment was
followed by landings of ground troops both north and south of Manila. The defending
Philippine and United States troops were under the command of General Douglas
MacArthur, who had been recalled to active duty in the United States Army earlier in
the year and was designated commander of the United States Armed Forces in the
Asia-Pacific region. The aircraft of his command were destroyed; the naval forces
were ordered to leave; and because of the circumstances in the Pacific region,
reinforcement and resupply of his ground forces were impossible. Under the
pressure of superior numbers, the defending forces withdrew to the Bataan
Peninsula and to the island of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay. Manila,
declared an open city to prevent its destruction, was occupied by the Japanese on
January 2, 1942.
The Philippine defense continued until the final surrender of U.S.-Philippine forces on
the Bataan Peninsula in April 1942 and on Corregidor in May. Most of the 80,000
prisoners of war captured by the Japanese at Bataan were forced to undertake the
infamous "Bataan Death March" to a prison camp 105 kilometers to the north.
Thousands of men, weakened by disease and malnutrition and treated harshly by
their captors, died before reaching their destination. Quezon and Osmea had
accompanied the troops to Corregidor and later left for the United States, where

they set up a government-in-exile. MacArthur was ordered to Australia, where he

started to plan for a return to the Philippines.

The occupation
A 100 Pesos note made by the Japanese during the occupation.
The Japanese military authorities immediately began organizing a new government
structure in the Philippines. Although the Japanese had promised independence for
the islands after occupation, they initially organized a Council of State through
which they directed civil affairs until October 1943, when they declared the
Philippines an independent republic. Most of the Philippine elite, with a few notable
exceptions, served under the Japanese. The Japanese-sponsored republic was
headed by President Jos P. Laurel. Philippine collaboration in Japanese-sponsored
political institutions began under Jorge B. Vargas, who was originally appointed by
Quezon as the mayor of Greater Manila before Quezon departed Manila. The only
political party allowed during the occupation was the Japanese-organized KALIBAPI.
During the occupation, most Filipinos remained loyal to the United States, and war
crimes committed by forces of the Empire of Japan against surrendered Allied
forces, and civilians were documented.

Resistance Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by active and

successful underground and guerrilla activity that increased over the years which
eventually covered a large portion of the country. Opposing these guerrillas were a
Japanese-formed Bureau of Constabulary (later taking the name of the old
Constabulary during the Second Republic), Kempeitai, and the Makapili. Postwar
investigations showed that about 260,000 people were in guerrilla organizations
and that members of the anti-Japanese underground were even more numerous.
Such was their effectiveness that by the end of the war, Japan controlled only
twelve of the forty-eight provinces.
The Philippine guerrilla movement continued to grow, in spite of Japanese
campaigns against them. Throughout Luzon and the southern islands Filipinos joined
various groups and vowed to fight the Japanese. The commanders of these groups
made contact with one another, argued about who was in charge of what territory,
and began to formulate plans to assist the return of American forces to the islands.
They gathered important intelligence information and smuggled it out to the U.S.
Army, a process that sometimes took months. General MacArthur formed a
clandestine operation to support the guerrillas. He had Lieutenant Commander
Charles "Chick" Parsons smuggle guns, radios and supplies to them by submarine.
The guerrilla forces, in turn, built up their stashes of arms and explosives and made
plans to assist MacArthur's invasion by sabotaging Japanese communications lines
and attacking Japanese forces from the rear.

Various guerrilla forces formed throughout the archipelago, ranging from groups of
U.S. Army Forces Far East (USAFFE) forces who refused to surrender to local militia
initially organized to combat banditry brought about by disorder caused by the
invasion. Several islands in the Visayas region had guerrilla forces led by Filipino
officers, such as Colonel Macario Peralta in Panay, Major Ismael Ingeniero in Bohol,
and Captain Salvador Abcede in Negros. The island of Mindanao, being farthest from
the center of Japanese occupation, had 38,000 guerrillas that were eventually
consolidated under the command of American civil engineer Colonel Wendell Fertig.
One resistance group in the Central Luzon area was known as the Hukbalahap
(Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon), or the People's Anti-Japanese Army organized in
early 1942 under the leadership of Luis Taruc, a communist party member since
1939. The Huks armed some 30,000 people and extended their control over
portions of Luzon. However, guerrilla activities on Luzon were hampered due to
heavy Japanese presence and infighting of the various groups, including Hukbalahap
troops attacking American-led guerrilla units.
Lack of equipment, difficult terrain and undeveloped infrastructure made
coordination of these groups nearly impossible, and for several months in 1942 all
contact was lost with Philippine resistance forces. Communications were restored in
November 1942 when the reformed Philippine 61st Division on Panay island led by
Colonel Macario Peralta was able to establish radio contact with the USAFFE
command in Australia. This enabled the forwarding of intelligence regarding
Japanese forces in the Philippines to SWPA command as well as consolidating the
once sporadic guerrilla activities and allowing the guerrillas to help in the war effort.
Among the signal units of Col Peralta were the 61 Signal Company manned by 2Lt
Ludovico Arroyo Baas, which was attached to forces of the 6th Military Division,
stationed in Passi, Iloilo, under the command of Capt. Eliseo Espia; and the 64th
Signal Company of the same Military Division, under the Command of LtCol. Cesar
Hechanova, to which 2Lt. Baas was given the responsibility sometime later.
Increasing amounts of supplies and radio were delivered by submarine to aid the
guerrilla effort. By the time of the Leyte invasion, four submarines were dedicated
exclusively to the delivery of supplies to the guerrillas.
Other guerrilla units were attached to the SWPA, and were active throughout the
archipelago. Some of these units were organized or directly connected to presurrender units ordered to mount guerrilla actions. An example of this was Troop C,
26th Cavalry. Other guerrilla units were made up of former Philippine Army and
Philippine Scouts soldiers who had been released from POW camps by the Japanese.
Others were combined units of Americans, military and civilian, who had never
surrendered or had escaped after surrendering, and Filipinos, Christians and Moros,
who had initially formed their own small units. Colonel Wendell Fertig organized
such a group on Mindanao that not only effectively resisted the Japanese, but
formed a complete government that often operated in the open throughout the

island. Some guerrilla units would later be assisted by American submarines who
delivered supplies, evacuate refugees and injured, as well as inserted individuals
and whole units, such as the 5217th Reconnaissance Battalion, and Alamo Scouts.
By the end of the war some 277 separate guerrilla units made up of some 260,715
individuals fought in the resistance movement. Select units of the resistance would
go on to be reorganized and equipped as units of the Philippine Army and
Constabulary.

End of the occupation When General MacArthur returned to the Philippines with
his army in late 1944, he was well supplied with information; it is said that by the
time MacArthur returned, he knew what every Japanese lieutenant ate for breakfast
and where he had his hair cut. But the return was not easy. The Japanese Imperial
General Staff decided to make the Philippines their final line of defense, and to stop
the American advance toward Japan. They sent every available soldier, airplane,
and naval vessel into the defense of the Philippines. The Kamikaze corps was
created specifically to defend the Philippines. The Battle of Leyte Gulf ended in
disaster for the Japanese and was the biggest naval battle of World War II, and the
campaign to re-take the Philippines was the bloodiest campaign of the Pacific War.
But intelligence information gathered by the guerrillas averted a bigger disaster
they revealed the plans of Japanese General Yamashita to entrap MacArthur's army,
and they led the liberating soldiers to the Japanese fortifications.
MacArthur's Allied forces landed on the island of Leyte on October 20, 1944,
accompanied by Osmea, who had succeeded to the commonwealth presidency
upon the death of Quezon on August 1, 1944. Landings then followed on the island
of Mindoro and around the Lingayen Gulf on the west side of Luzon, and the push
toward Manila was initiated. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was restored.
Fighting was fierce, particularly in the mountains of northern Luzon, where Japanese
troops had retreated, and in Manila, where they put up a last-ditch resistance. The
Philippine Commonwealth troops and the recognized guerrilla fighter units rose up
everywhere for the final offensive. Filipino guerrillas also played a large role during
the liberation. One guerrilla unit came to substitute for a regularly constituted
American division, and other guerrilla forces of battalion and regimental size
supplemented the efforts of the U.S. Army units. Moreover, the loyal and willing
Filipino population immeasurably eased the problems of supply, construction and
civil administration and furthermore eased the task of Allied forces in recapturing
the country.
Fighting continued until Japan's formal surrender on September 2, 1945. The
Philippines had suffered great loss of life and tremendous physical destruction by
the time the war was over. An estimated 1 million Filipinos had been killed from all
causes; of these 131,028 were listed as killed in seventy-two war crime events. U.S.
casualties were 10,380 dead and 36,550 wounded; Japanese dead were 255,795.

Philippines Campaign (194445)

The Philippines campaign of 19441945, the Battle of the Philippines 19441945, or
the Liberation of the Philippines was the American and Filipino campaign to defeat
and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War
II. The Japanese Army had overrun all of the Philippines during the first half of 1942.
The Liberation of the Philippines commenced with amphibious landings on the
eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20, 1944, and hostilities in a small part
of the Philippines continued through the end of the war in August 1945.

Battle of Manila (1945)

The Battle of Manila (Tagalog: Laban ng Maynila ng 1945), also known as the
Liberation of Manila, fought from 3 February-3 March 1945 by American, Filipino,
and Japanese forces, was part of the 1945 Philippine campaign. The one-month
battle, which culminated in a terrible bloodbath and total devastation of the city,
was the scene of the worst urban fighting in the Pacific theater, and ended almost
three years of Japanese military occupation in the Philippines (19421945). The
city's capture was marked as General Douglas MacArthur's key to victory in the
campaign of reconquest.

Background On 9 January 1945, the Sixth U.S. Army under Lt. Gen. Walter
Krueger waded ashore on Lingayen Gulf and began a rapid drive south.
Three weeks later on 31 January, the Eighth United States Army of Lt. Gen. Robert L.
Eichelberger, consisting of the 187th and 188th Glider Infantry Regiments of Col.
Robert H. Soule, components of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division under Maj. Gen.
Joseph M. Swing landed unopposed at Nasugbu in southern Luzon and began
moving north toward Manila. Meanwhile, the 11th A/B Division's 511th Regimental
Combat Team of Col. Orin D. "Hard Rock" Haugen parachuted into Tagaytay Ridge
on 4 February and spearheaded the southern advance.
By 4 February, the rapid drive to Manila by U.S. forces began. Using intelligence
provided by Filipino guerrillas, American units were able to find intact bridges and
shallow rivers everywhere they went.

PhilippineAmerican War

The PhilippineAmerican War (18991902), was an armed conflict between the

United States and Filipino revolutionaries.
The conflict arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to secure
independence from the United States following the latter's acquisition of the
Philippines from Spain after the SpanishAmerican War. The war was a continuation

of the Philippine struggle for independence that began in 1896 with the Philippine
Revolution.
Fighting erupted between United States and Filipino revolutionary forces on
February 4, 1899, and quickly escalated into the 1899 Second Battle of Manila. On
June 2, 1899, the First Philippine Republic officially declared war against the United
States. The war officially ended on July 4, 1902. However, some groups led by
veterans of the Katipunan continued to battle the American forces. Among those
leaders was General Macario Sacay, a veteran Katipunan member who assumed the
presidency of the proclaimed "Tagalog Republic", formed in 1902 after the capture
of President Emilio Aguinaldo. Other groups, including the Moro people and
Pulahanes people, continued hostilities in remote areas and islands until their final
defeat a decade later at the Battle of Bud Bagsak on June 15, 1913.
The war and occupation by the U.S. would change the cultural landscape of the
islands, as the people dealt with an estimated 34,000 to 220,000 Filipino casualties,
disestablishment of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, (as a "state
Church" - as previously in Spain), and the introduction of the English language in the
islands as the primary language of government, education, business, industrial and
increasingly in future decades among families and educated individuals.
Under the 1902 "Philippine Organic Act", passed by the United States Congress,
Filipinos were initially given very limited self-government, including the right to vote
for some elected officials such as an elected Philippine Assembly, but it was not
until 14 years later with the 1916 Philippine Autonomy Act, (or "Jones Act") passed
by the United States Congress, now under Democratic 28th President, Woodrow
Wilson, that the U.S. officially promised eventual independence, along with more
Filipino control in the meantime over the Philippines. The 1934 Philippine
Independence Act created in the following year, 1935, the Commonwealth of the
Philippines, a limited form of independence, and established a process ending in
Philippine independence (originally scheduled for 1944, but interrupted and delayed
by World War II. Finally in 1946, following World War II and the Japanese Occupation
of the Philippines, the United States granted independence through the Treaty of
Manila concluded between the two governments and nations.
The war is known in the Philippines as Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano, (FilipinoAmerican War. In the United States, it has been known by a variety of names,
including the Philippine Insurrection, the Philippine-American War, the FilipinoAmerican War, the Philippine War, and the Philippine Revolution. In 1999 the U.S.
Library of Congress reclassified its references to use the term Philippine-American
War.

Hukbalahap

Name As originally constituted in 1942, the Hukbalahap was to be part of a broad

united front resistance to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. This original
intent is reflected in its name: "Hukbong Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon", which means
"People's Army Against the Japanese."
By 1950, the Communist Party of the Philippines PKP had resolved to reconstitute
the organization as the armed wing of a revolutionary party, prompting a change in
the official name to Hukbong Mapalaya ng Bayan, (HMB) or "Peoples' Liberation
Army," likely in emulation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Notwithstanding this name change, the HMB continued to be popularly known as
the Hukbalahap, and the English-speaking press continued to refer to it and its
members, interchangeably, as "The Huks" during the whole period between 1945
and 1952.

History The Hukbalahap movement has deep roots in the Spanish encomienda, a
system of grants to reward soldiers who had conquered New Spain, established
about 1570. This developed into a system of exploitation. In the 19th century,
Filipino landlordism, under the Spanish colonization, arose and, with it, further
abuses. Only after the coming of the Americans were reforms initiated to lessen
tensions between tenants and landlords. The reforms, however, did not solve the
problems and, with growing political consciousness produced by education,
peasants began to unite under educated but poor leaders. The most potent of these
organizations was the Hukbalahap, which began as a resistance organization
against the Japanese but ended as an anti-government resistance movement.

Hukbalahap Rebellion
The Hukbalahap Rebellion was a rebellion staged by former Hukbalahap or Hukbo
ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Anti-Japanese Army) soldiers against the Philippine
government. It started in during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in 1942
and continued during the presidency of Manuel Roxas, and ended in 1954 under the
presidency of Ramon Magsaysay.

Background During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the Hukbalahap

created a strong resistance army against the Japanese forces in Central Luzon. The
Huk Resistance, as it became popularly known, created a stronghold against the
Japanese in the villages through guerilla warfare. During this time, the area was
heavily protected by Huks, and Huk justice reigned.
The aftermath of the liberation from Japan was characterized by chaos. The
Philippine Government, following orders from the United States of America,
disarmed and arrested the Huks for allegedly being communists. Harassment and
abuses against peasant activists became common. Largely consisting of peasant
farmers, the Huks feared for their lives as United States Army Forces in the Far East

(USAFFE) and the Philippine Constabulary (civilian police) hunted them down.
Civilian casualties were huge. The Huks decided to go back to the mountains and
their guerrilla lifestyle as a response to supposed maltreatment by the government.
They staged a rebellion against the Philippine Government when it became clear
that the repression will not stop unless all former Huk soldiers and supporters were
rounded up.

Japan In December 1941 the Japanese army arrived in the Philippines. The country
did not have sufficient military capacity to protect its citizen from the advancing
army of the Allied Forces and needed the help of the USA, under the USAFFE, in
defending the country. Still, it was not sufficient, and the peasants of Central Luzon
had to learn how to fight back in order to survive. The organized peasant
movements of the 1930s in Central Luzon have set the conditions for organized
resistance against the Japanese.
In March 29, 1942, 300 of these peasant leaders decided to form the HUKBALAHAP
or the Hukbong Laban sa Hapon. This event marks the moment when the peasant
movement became a guerrilla army.
The Hukbalahap expanded what the peasant movement had become until 1941.
From dealing with tenant-landlord problems, the peasants now had to protect
themselves against the military government the Japanese installed in the
Philippines. The Huks had the mission of policing the countryside and fighting the
Japanese.
Purposes of the Hukbalahap:
Organize people into an anti-Japanese resistance movement
Collect arms from civilians
Gather guns from retreating USAFFE forces
Stop banditry
The numbers of Huk soldiers increased. By September 1942, there were 3000 men
and by 1946 the Huks numbered about 10,000. During the time of the Japanese
occupation, the organization became an underground political government with a
full-functioning military committee composing of 67 squadrons in 1944. The Huk
army was composed of squadrons, and squadrons were composed of squads. In the
town of Talavera, Nueva Ecija alone, there were 3 squadrons, with about 200 men
each.
Its top commanders were Castro Alejandrino (AMT, PSP), Felipa Culala (KPMP),
Bernardo Poblete (AMT), and Luis Taruc (AMT, PSP), with Taruc being the supreme
military commander. The Communists claimed that the Hukbalahap was
Communist-led and initiated. However, prior to the war, none of the top leaders had
had any connections with the PKP and interviews conducted by Kerkvliet with
members afterwards also points to a non-bias towards any ideology.

The Huks were very popular among the villagers and were seen as their protector
from the abuses of the Japanese. There were many motivations for people to join:
nationalism, empathy, survival, and revenge. Those who could not join the guerrilla
army joined the underground government via its secretly converted neighborhood
associations, called Barrio United Defense Corp (BUDC).
The HUKBALAHAP also tried to recruit beyond Central Luzon but were not as
successful. Nonetheless, the Huks fought side by side with local troops of the
Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary units, USAFFE soldiers,
helping the US win the Japanese war in the Philippines.