"HIS FEATS AND ACCOMPLISHMENT WERE UNQUESTIONABLE, HE IS INDEED THE BEST PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES!! not Marcos nor Cory." -Randolfcedric01
MAGSAYSAY THE "WARRIOR" LEADER: Among the surprising experiences I got during my Squadron Officer Training at the United States Air Force Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base at Alabama in 2005, was when I learned that the American military education institution considered the best counter-insurgency campaign ever made in modern military history was done by President RAMON MAGSAYSAY when he defeated the Huk Rebellion in the 1950s…
The campaign begun when the HUKBALAHAP leader Luis Taruc took to the field around Mount Arayat on May 1947… The rebels chose richest rice growing region of Central Luzon as their base of operations because of the support they will be able to get from the dissatisfied masses on the issues of land tenure… By 1950 the Huks expanded their operation throughout Central Luzon, large areas of South Luzon and began to establish bases in North Luzon…
In 1950 RAMON MAGSAYSAY was made Secretary of National Defense, using his experience as World War 2 Guerilla and with American advise, he integrated a military- socio- economic- political strategy that eventually defeated the Huks… He reorganized the Armed Forces of the Philippines by incorporating the military as a participant in social reforms and public service… He increased the size of the military and equipped with surplus World War 2 arms and equipment from the US plus he made important changes on its tactics, PERHAPS MOST SIGNIFICANT HE ALWAYS INVOLVED HIMSELF IN THE BATTLE FRONT, KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH THE CONDUCT OF MILITARY OPERATIONS:
- MAGSAYSAY incorporated civil resettlement projects with his military campaign with the creation of the Economic Development Corps (EDCOR), providing incentives for Huks to join mainstream society… With the positive progress toward land-reform and private-land ownership, enticed many rebels to surrender, the Huk slogan “LAND FOR THE LANDLESS†now belonged to the government…
- On his first day as Defense Secretary he cleansed the AFP from top to bottom, eliminating corrupt and incompetent officers in a matter of months the outlook of the Philippine military began to change for the better…
- The Philippine Air Force made use F-51 Mustang fighters for ground strike missions, L-5 Sentinels for observation, C-47 Gooney Birds for transport and T-6 and P-13 for other missions… Mustang fighters were extensively used for close air support and bombing of Huk targets and bases… Transport planes were also being used for troop ferry and evacuation of the wounded… MAGSAYSAY made frequent visits to the front utilizing PAF air assets… L-5 Sentinels were utilized for psychological warfare by dropping leaflets to the rebels, badly affecting their morale and causing many of them to give themselves up… Other similar approaches were made such as L-5 Sentinels equipped with electric megaphones, deceiving and creation dissension within the ranks of the Huks…
- Combining military operations with civic action projects he formed his grand strategy that would improve the living conditions for the peasants and remove the base of the rebels’ strength… To further win the hearts of the masses, he imposed discipline in the ranks of the government forces… During his tenure military abuses ceased and soldiers and policemen that were found guilty were dealt with swiftly and harshly…
- In 1953 when MAGSAYSAY became President, he reduced the level of corruption in the government and instituted many social and agrarian reforms… A quarter of a million hectares of public land were distributed to almost 3,000 farmers and 2 EDCOR projects on Mindanao flourished…
- The AFP shifted from employing large-scale offensives to small-unit tactics… Magsaysay found out that majority of the AFP offensives harmed more civilians than rebels, affecting his policy of winning the hearts and minds of the people… Battalions were employed but were no longer allowed to stay in an area for a long period of time… They moved periodically and only left behind intelligence people, the tactic allowed better maneuverability and flexibility for the ground troops… Five man patrols were being conducted on an irregular time-frame and often remained in the field for several days before returning to their base…
- Later in the campaign the military placed more emphasis on psychological warfare to eradicate the enemy more than military operations… Employing numerous deception and misinformation strategies to gain the advantage of affecting the will of Huk forces, gaining more support from the populace and created mistrust and discord within the rebel group…
- Relations between the ground and air forces were good and never posed a problem in the campaign... Based on American doctrine and experience in World War 2, the Philippine Army and Air Force were on equal footing during the campaign with no service dominating the other and there were close liaisons and coordination between ground and air force commanders…
- MAGSAYSAY also understood the importance of intelligence, for him without good intel, all other military tactics and reorganization will be futile… With American advice he required his intelligence officers to come up with the enemy’s order of battle… Officers and commanders in the battle area were asked to study the Huk Organization and compile complete information on each individual suspected Huk…
The Huk campaign ended in 1955, government forces killed about 6,000 Huk rebels, wounding 1,600, captured 4,000 and accepted the surrender of 16,000 as the conflict drew to a close in the late 1954… Throughout 1955 the number of rebels at large continued to diminish until by the end of the year less than 1,000 remained… Of the 250,000 supporters in Central Luzon in 1949, less than 30,000 remained by December 1955… (With thanks to Seminar Delta, Squadron Officer Course Class of 2013A)…
-from the album of Col. Neri
