23 Post-War Problems ant the Republic

Post-War Economic Conditions It was estimated that the damage to different industries amounted to about P582, 500,000, while domestics assets sustained a reduction of about P798, 767, 595. The Philippines Civil Affairs Unit Production was practically at a standstill when the Americans hit the beaches of Luzon. The condition became worse during and immediately after the battle of Manila when the peoples attention was centered on saving their lives not only from the atrocities of the Japanese but also from American bombs and guns. The American army promptly created the Philippine Civil Affairs Unit (PCAU). PCAU paid the salaries of municipal officials and teachers in areas already in the hands of the Americans. PCAU organized food distributing centers in Manila and the provinces. Reorganization of the Government President Osmena reorganized the government to make it responsive to the imperative needs of the nation. March 7, 1945, Osmena signed an Executive Order providing for the restoration of the executive departments of the government as they existed before the war. A new feature of the reorganization was the creation of the department of information as part of the Department of Public Instruction. March 8, Osmena swore in the new members of the Cabinet. The Congress Convened MacArthur , a man of action and of a military temper, actually made the important decisions for President Osmena. MacArthur believed that Osmena was too slow and wanted Congress immediately convoked, for the policy of the American Government was to restore constitutional government in the Philippines as soon as law and order had been established. June 9, Osmena called a special session of Congress. May 26, Roxas instructed his men to his candidacy. The Collaboration Issue Osmena faced the problem of collaboration with an open mind. But the line of conduct he was to follow with regard to the question was laid down for him by President Roosevelt. August 14, at least two bills were presented providing for the creation of a court to try the so-called collaborators. American Financial Aid The general economic situation arising from the ravages of the war led the American Government to survey the actual damage inflicted by the enemy on the Philippines. Senator Millard Tydings, co-author of the Tydings-McDuffie Independence Act, was sent to the Philippines to make survey.

The Bell Trade and Rehabilitation Acts Future trade relations were given some thought by American leaders. September 26, 1945, Congressman C. Jasper Bell of Missouri introduced a bill providing for free trade relations between the United States and the Philippines for a period of twenty years. The bill known as the Bell Trade Relations Act, provided for free-trade relations between the United States and the Philippines until 1954. After which foods would be taxed. The Election of 1946 When MacArthur returned to the Philippines the officials of the Laurel Government were forcibly taken by the Japanese. Some of them were taken to Baguio in the wake of the retreating Japanese army, while others were flown to Japan. Manuel A. Roxas, elected senator in the election of November 1941, was one of those taken to Baguio. Roxas proceeded to maneuver for his election to the presidency. When finally Congress was convened, Roxas convened, Roxas was promptly elected President of the Senate. Policies of the Roxas Administration Roxas in his inaugural address as the last President of the Commonwealth, laid down the bases of his policy: the rebuilding of the economy that was broken and destroyed by war, the industrialization of the country, the encouragement of Filipinos to participate in all the operations of our new economy at all its levels, devotion to the ideals of an indivisible peace and an indivisible world, close cooperation with the United States, and the restoration of the role of law and government as the arbiter of right among the people. Guerrilla Amnesty The so-called guerrilla problem consisted in the abuses allegedly committed by many guerrillas during the enemy occupation. September 7, 1946, Roxas proclaimed a general amnesty of those guerrillas who killed and murdered in pursuance of the resistance movement. The Treaty of General Relations Immediately after the independence ceremonies, the Philippines, now a Republic and the United States entered into a treaty of general relations. The United States withdrew and surrendered all rights of possessions, supervision, jurisdiction, control or sovereignty over the Philippines, except such bases as the United States would need for the mutual protection of the United States and the Philippines. The Plebiscite of 1947 The election of 1946 resulted not only in the return to power of the pre-war lords of Philippine economy, but also, as a reaction against such a comeback, in the election of six Democratic Alliance men, headed by Luis Taruc of Pampanga, to Congress. March 11, 1947, Congress submitted to the people a draft amending the Constitution.

Death Came for Roxas March 1948, the military authorities of Clark Air Base invited Roxas to make a public statement on the loyalty of the Philippines to the United States. Roxas loyalty speech was received with tremendous ovation. He was, however, not feeling well and by evening he was turning for the worse. At 9:30, while an American army officer was passing by the foot of the Presidents bed he noticed that Roxas made a sudden gasp. In a few minutes, President Roxas was dead. Vice-President Elpidio Quirino took his oath of office as President of the Philippines. Quirinos Administration Upon assuming office, Quirino, who inherited the grave problems of the State, announced that his program of government would consist in restoring the faith of and confidence of the people in the government and in the restoration of peace and order.

24The Hukbalahap Movement

The Hukbalahap Movement has its deep roots in Spanish encomienda system which developed into a system of exploitation.

Spanish Origins No record of any agrarian unrest in pre-Spanish times; the unrest, in so far as records are concerned, dates from the Spanish period when the encomienda was established about 1570 Encomienda was an excellent institution designed to protect the people from exploitation and to educate them in Christian faith. Actually, however, it was used as a tool of exploitation by the rapacious encomenderos. The people were dispossessed of the land upon which they staked their very lives.

Agarian Unrest under the Americans The factors that helped shape the filibustero mentality of the second half of the nineteenth century arose out of the conditions brought about by the economic structure of the Spanish colonial system. Of these factors, the most important was economic: the cruelties, thievery, and injustices of the Spanish officials and friars were perpetrated in order to amass wealth and, with it, power In 1928, representatives of the Philippines Labor Congress attended a trade conference in Canton, Chine, which was sponsored by the communist. In 1929, Pedro Abad Santos, a wealthy and cultured landlord of Pampanga, founded the Socialist Party.

The Founding of the Hukbahalap The socialist-communist orientation of the Central Luzon peasants led to a more militant peasant and labor movement. The years immediately preceding the outbreak of the war in the Pacific may be described as critical, for it was during the period that numerous strikes were recorded Then war came to the Philippines on December 8, 1941.

The Hukbalahap Sovereignt The high command of the Hukbalahap imposed an iron discipline on all its members. When war broke out and the Japanese occupied the country, the landlords and their families evacuated to Manila.

Liberation and Imprisonment The American landing in Lingayen in January 1945 was opportune, for the guerrillas had already cleared out the Japanese obstacles. The Huks, as the most potent guerrilla outfit, had the straggling Japanese in Flight. On February 5, the Americans entered Manila in force they promptly disarmed the Huk squadrons that had entered the city ahead of them.

The Arrest of Tanuc The mass arrest of the Huks reached its peak on February 22, 1945, when the CIC arrested to the members of the Huk General Headquarters and jailed them in San Fernando, Pampanga. One of those arrested was Luis Tanuc

Roxas and the Huks When it became evident that Manuel Roxas, whom the Huks accused of having been a collaborator, would run for the presidency of the Huks and the Democratic Alliance, a new party composed of intellectuals, workers, and peasants, studied the situation and its implications and decided to throw their support behind President Osmena.

The pacific Campaign Taruc and other peasant leaders, in their desire to make the countryside safe, cooperated with President Roxas in the campaign of pacification.

Outlawing of the Huks The sharp and constant fighting between the Huks on one band, and the MPs and civilian guards, on the other, wrought havoc on the agriculture economy of Central Luzon. For two years, the Roxas Administration tried its best to quell the Huk dissidence to no avail.

The Amnesty Proclamation Roxas, whom the Huks labeled as the willing tool of American and Filipino vested interests, died at Clark Field, an American territory, in April 1948. The first task of Elpido Quirino as successor of Roxas was, as he stated, the establishment of peace and order so that his administration could proceed with economic mobilization and the restoration of the peoples faith and confidence in the government.

The Breakdown of Amnesty Taruc entered Manila somewhat like Julius Caesar entering Rome after the Gallic wars. He was mobbed by admirers and congressman and senators who happily posed with him in pictures taken by news photographers. On August 14, the eve of the fifty-day period within which the Huks could register with their arms, Taruc left Manila for an undisclosed place in Central Luzon ostensibly on a mission of the peace and to confer with his leader over the eleventh hour regristration

Cause of the Failure of Amnesty Taruc accused the Quirino Administration of bad faith and of failing to implement the secret agreement with Judge Quirino. The latter, however, in an open letter to Taruc, denied any such secret agreement was talked about between him and Taruc.

The Murder of Mrs. Quezon Taruc admitted, for the first time. That the Huk objective was the overthrow of the government

The Fall of the Huk Politburo The unified and widespread Huk movement posed a real danger to the government. Before the dawn of October 18, 1950, twenty-two organized units of the Armed Forces, aided by the Manila Police, raided several places simultaneously and caught the brains of the Politburo: Atty. Jose Lava, member of the well-to-do and cultured Lava Family of Bulakan, Bulakan; Federico Bautista; Simeon G. Rodriguez, a former newspaperman; Salome Cruz; Ramon Espiritu, Angel Baking; and others. Important Huk documents were taken and used as evidence in court.

The Surrender of Taruc In 1953, the Huk movement lost its glamour. President Magsaysay, an avowed lover of the little people, toured the barrios, kissed children and old women, and heartily pumped the hands of the peasants. Early in 1954, President Magsaysay secretly appointed Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., of the Daily Mirror, his personal emissary to Taruc.

25The Recognition of the Tao

The success of the Quirino Administration in breaking the back of the massive Hukbalahap movement fulfilled one of the promises of President Quirino, namely, the restoration of peace and order.

The Tao in History The common man, popularly known as the tao in Tagalog, has been, since Spanish times, the object of ridicule, contempt, and, at best, pity. He has been the victim of injustices, brutality, and all sorts of unnamable barbarism, but, like the carabao that symbolizes him, he suffers all those with abundant patience and amiable tolerance.

The Presidential Election of 1953 Such, in brief, is the history of the tao. Accustomed to being ignored, he was resigned to his fate and adopted an attitude of let alone in political and social manners. Magsaysays presidential campaign was characterized by his emphasis on the barrio and the tao.

Magsaysays Charismatic Leadership True to his promise, Magsaysay worked hard to make the tao a man in his community. He geared his administration to the urgent demands of rural uplift. Magsaysay believed that an important measure in the land system was to purchase or expropriate large estates for distribution to their occupants or to the landless. During the first year of the Magsaysay administration, 28,000 land patents, covering 241,000 hectares, were issued to settlers.

The Spoiled Masses Magsaysay was profuse and dramatic in his love for the tao. He showed this feeling in countless ways. He walked with them in his wooden clogs, ate with them with his hands, slept in their homes in the lowly papag or bamboo bed, and posed with them in the garbed of a yokel for the benefit of the press photographers.

The Failure of the Tao Magsaysays intentions regarding the tao were sincere, for he wanted him to improve his lot within the framework of the laws. He took time out to listen personally to his grievances and took steps which would develop the rural areas in a manner that would be satisfactory to the tao.

The Election of 1957 Magsaysay had prepared a ten-point program of administration designed to stabilize Filipino society when death overtook him in an airplane. On March 16, 1957 he left Malakanyang for Cebu where he was scheduled to speak before an educational institution. The election of 1957 was the noisiest and the most expensive in Philippine history up to that year.

Garcias Program Underscoring the serious economic problem that confronted the country, President Garcia, certainly a more sober and level-headed man than his predecessor, anchored his whole program of government in austerity.

26 The Continuing Crisis

Graft and corruption in high and low places continued to plague society resulting in the loss of revenues to the government, on the one hand, and in the increase of criminality, on the other. In desperation, the people voted Macapagal into office.

Macapagals Program Addressing the Congress on January, 22, 1962, Macapagal outlined the objectives of his socioeconomic program as (1) immediate restoration of economic stability, (2) the alleviation of the common mans plight, and (3) the establishment of a dynamic basis for future growth. Realizing that the people had lost their sense of morality, Macapagal, in the flush of victory, promised to strengthen the moral fiber through formal modes of reform and in setting the example of honesty, uprightness and simple living.

The Mignight Appointments President Macapagal and his men discovered to their dismay that on the eve of the turnover of Malakanyang to him, Garcia appointed more than 200 of his and his followers protgs to important positions in the government. One of the most important posts, that of Central Bank Governor, was given to former Secretary of Finance Dominador Aytona by outgoiGarcia. The bitterness which characterized the controversy over the so-called midnight appointments added to the state of confusion that obtained in the country after the presidential election.

The Stonehill Scandal Morality had gone down so low that even high government officials, from cabinet members to congressmen and senators, were constantly the focus of public attention owing the rumors of illegal and immoral transactions involving millions of pesos.

Independence Day: June 12 When Macapagal was campaigning for the presidency, most nationalists looked upon him as a creature of landlords and imperialists.

The Land Reform Code Macapagal, who was fond of calling himself the poor boy from Lubao, saw the need of radical changes in the economic and social status of the peasants. The situation was desperate and desperate situations call for desperate measures.

Initial Results Despite dire predictions of some critics of the land reform program, the initial results of Macapagals efforts are encouraging. In Plaridel, Bulakan, which Macapagal proclaimed as the first land reform area, the leaseholders have improved their living conditions. President Marcos, realizing the social and economic implications of the land reform program, promised in his State-of-the-Nation message in January 1966 that he would implement the law.

The Election of 1965 The continued rise in the prices of consumer goods, the seemingly insoluble problem of peace and order, the rampant graft and corruption, and the continued smuggling of dutiable goods, led the people, particularly the common man, to believe that the Macapagal administration was inept. As in every election since the early 1920s, that of 1965 was a contest of personalities and political grimmickry As in the presidential election of 1957, the Catholic hierarchy and the indigenous Iglesia ni Kristo (Church of the Christ) were dragged into the political cesspool.

Marcos Program On January 24, 1966, President Marcos addressed the joint of Congress and promptly admitted that the country was in a crisis.