Spirit of Resistance; the Hukbalahap Rebellion and Anti-Imperialism in the Philippines

The Hukbalahap uprising took place between the years of 1942 and 1954 in the American-occupied territory of the Philippines, and rallied against a blatant suppression of democratic principles by the United States. One of many rebellions which fell under the poorly defined label of “communist” by the United States government, the ideology of the Huks was, in reality, less absolute in nature and emerged primarily out of necessity. The rebellion consisted of two major stages, the first of which lasted from 1942 until 1945, and was comprised of a coalition of Filipino peasants who organized and armed themselves in order to repel the Japanese military, who had occupied their territory in the midst of World War II. The second stage began after the defeat of the Japanese in 1945, and was fought by these same Filipino peasants against the United States and the Philippine government. Prior to and after the U.S. granted the Philippines official independence in 1946, they used claims of aide and reconstruction to implement exploitive trade policies and install a U.S.-friendly administration in the Philippines which the Huks fought against for nearly a decade, eventually succumbing to defeat in 1954. The purpose of this research is to uncover and emphasize the experience of the Filipino peasantry who populated the Huk movement, bringing to light the U.S.-subsidized persecution they faced in their own nation. Ultimately, this project seeks to more accurately portray the motivations and desires of the Huk rebellion, situating this insurgency within a long and proud legacy of anti-imperialist movements in the Philippines