Editing Hukbalahap (section)

==Post-war and rebellion==
{{Main|Hukbalahap rebellion}}
[[File:Hukbalahap Veterans Card.jpg|thumb|right|Hukbalahap veteran's card]]

The end of the war saw the return of American forces in the Philippines. While the Hukbalahap expected to have their war efforts recognized and be treated as allies,<ref>{{Harvnb|Weir|1998}}</ref> the Americans, with the help of [[United States Army Forces in the Far East|USAFFE]] guerrillas and former [[Philippine Constabulary|PC]] members, forcibly disarmed Huk squadrons while charging other guerrillas of treason, sedition, and subversive activity, leading to the arrests of [[Luis Taruc]] and [[Casto Alejandrino]] in 1945, as well as incidents such as the massacre of 109 Huk guerrillas in [[Malolos, Bulacan]].<ref name="Kerkvliet"/>

In September 1945, President [[Sergio Osmeña]] released Taruc, Alejandrino, and other Huk leaders from prison. The PKP, through Huk leaders, then formally disbanded the movement and formed the Hukbalahap Veterans' League in an effort to get the Hukbalahap recognized as a legitimate guerrilla movement. Alejandrino was its nominal chairman.<ref name="Saulo"/>

In 1946, peasants in Central Luzon backed members of the [[Democratic Alliance (Philippines)|Democratic Alliance]] in that year's election, with six candidates eventually winning seats in the Senate. Among these candidates was Luis Taruc. However, they were blocked from sitting in Congress by the government, which only exacerbated negative sentiment among the peasants in Central Luzon. The new Roxas administration attempted a pacification program, with help from Taruc, Alejandrino, [[Juan Feleo]], and other representatives. They would be accompanied by MP guards and government officials to try and pacify peasant groups, however this did not result in any sort of success. Within days of the so-called "truce", violence once again erupted in Central Luzon. Taruc and others claimed that civilian guards and government officials were "sabotaging the peace process".<ref name="Kerkvliet"/>

On August 24, 1946, Feleo was stopped by a large band of "armed men in fatigue uniforms" in [[Gapan, Nueva Ecija]]. He had planned to present the peasant's concerns to the Secretary of the Interior [[Jose Zulueta]], before he was taken and killed. Thousands of Huk veterans and PKM members were sure that Feleo was murdered by landlords, or possibly the Roxas administration itself.<ref name="Kerkvliet"/> The incident led to Taruc joining the peasants and re-igniting the insurrection. The Roxas administration then outlawed the Hukbalahap on March 6, 1948.<ref name="Saulo"/>

In 1949, Hukbalahap members ambushed and murdered [[Aurora Quezon]], Chairman of the [[Philippine Red Cross]] and widow of the Philippines' second president, [[Manuel L. Quezon]], as she was en route to her hometown for the dedication of the Quezon Memorial Hospital.<ref name="mm0">Martinez, p. 150</ref> Several others were also killed, including her eldest daughter and son-in-law. This attack brought worldwide condemnation of the Huks, who claimed that the attack was done by "renegade" members.<ref name="mm0"/> The continuing condemnation and new post-war causes of the movement prompted the Huk leaders to adopt a new name, the "{{lang|fil|Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan}}" or the "People's Liberation Army" in 1950.

Public sympathies for the movement had been waning due to their postwar attacks. The Huks confiscated funds and property to sustain their movement and relied on small village organizers for political and material support. The Huk movement was mainly spread in the central provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, and in Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Laguna, Bataan, and Quezon.

An important movement in the campaign against the Huks was the deployment of hunter-killer counter guerrilla special units. The "Nenita" unit (1946–1949) was the first of such special forces whose main mission was to eliminate the Huks. The Nenita force was commanded by Major Napoleon Valeriano. The Nenita terror tactics which were not only committed against dissidents but also towards law-abiding people sometimes helped the Huks gain supporters as a consequence.

In July 1950, Major Valeriano assumed command of the elite 7th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) in [[Bulacan]]. The 7th BCT would develop a reputation toward employing a more comprehensive, more unconventional counterinsurgency strategy and reduced the random brutality against the civilian population.

In June 1950, American alarm over the Hukbalahap rebellion during the Cold War prompted President [[Harry S. Truman|Harry Truman]] to approve special military assistance that included military advice, sale at cost of military equipment to the Philippines and financial aid under the Joint United States Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG). On August 26, 1950, in an "anniversary celebration" of the [[Cry of Pugad Lawin]], the Huks temporarily seized [[Santa Cruz, Laguna]], and Camp Makabulos, Tarlac, confiscating money, food, weapons, ammunition, clothing, medicine, and office supplies.<ref name=Taruc/>{{rp|85–86}} In September 1950, former USAFFE guerrilla, [[Ramon Magsaysay]] was appointed as Minister of National Defense on American advice. With the Hukbalahap rebellion growing in strength and the security situation in the Philippines becoming seriously threatened, Magsaysay urged President [[Elpidio Quirino]] to suspend the writ of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' for the duration of the Huk campaign. On October 18, 1950, Magsaysay captured the Secretariat, including General Secretary [[José Lava]], following the earlier capture of the Politburo in Manila.<ref name=Taruc/>{{rp|90}}

American assistance allowed Magsaysay to create more BCTs, bringing the total to twenty-six. By 1951, army strength had increased by 60 percent over the previous year with 1,047-man BCTs. Major military offensive campaigns against the Huks were carried out by the 7th, 16th, 17th, and 22nd BCTs.

Another major effort against the Huks was Operation "Knockout" of the Panay Task Force (composed of the 15th BCT, some elements of the 9th BCT and the PC commands of Iloilo, Capiz, and Antique) under the command of Colonel [[Alfredo M. Santos]]. The Operation conducted a surprise attack on Guillermo Capadocia, commander of the Huk Regional Command in the Visayas, erstwhile Secretary General and one of the founders of the PKP. Santos' masterstroke was the enlistment of Pedro Valentin, a local mountain leader who knew the people and the terrain like the back of his hand. Capadocia died on [[Panay]],<ref name=Taruc/>{{rp|98}} of battle wounds, on September 20, 1952.

In 1954, Lieutenant Colonel Laureño Maraña, the former head of Force X of the 16th PC Company, assumed command of the 7th BCT, which had become one of the most mobile striking forces of the Philippine ground forces against the Huks, from Valeriano who was now a colonel. Force X employed psychological warfare through combat intelligence and infiltration that relied on secrecy in planning, training, and execution of attack. The lessons learned from Force X and Nenita were combined in the 7th BCT.

With the all out anti-dissidence campaigns against the Huks, they numbered less than 2,000 by 1954 and without the protection and support of local supporters, active Huk resistance no longer presented a serious threat to Philippine security. From February to mid-September 1954, the largest anti-Huk operation, "Operation Thunder-Lightning" was conducted and resulted in the surrender of Luis Taruc on May 17. Further cleanup operations of guerrillas remaining lasted throughout 1955, diminishing its number to less than 1,000 by year's end.