Chapter 18: Elpidio Quirino Era 1948-1953 - Chris Pforr Homepage

Chapter 18: Elpidio Quirino Era 1948-1953
Chap 18, pg 1
Following the death of President Roxas, Elpidio Quirino took the oath of office
as the new president on April 17, 1947. He promised to solve the country’s
biggest problem, the Huk rebellion, by negotiations.
The US Government did not like this approach.
The new Truman Doctrine committed the United
States to a Cold War policy of confrontation,
rather than negotiation, with communists around
the world.
Huk Amnesty
Nevertheless, on June 21, 1948, President Quirino issued a proclamation
granting amnesty to all members of the Hukbalahap. The Huks were granted
pardon for any crimes they had commited, in trade for surrendering their
weapons to the government.
But the Philippine Government and the landlords sabotaged the amnesty, and
fighting broke out between the Huks and government troops. Luis Taruc deplored
the failure of President Quirino to implement the reforms that had been
promised. The conflict resumed.
1949 General Election
After President Quirino had completed the twenty months
remaining in Roxas’ unfinished term, national elections were
held in November 1949. Quirino ran against Jose P. Laurel
of the Nacionalista Party and Jose Avelino, from Quirino’s
own Liberal Party. Quirino won with 50.3% of the vote.
Afterwards, he was accused of fraud and intimidation:
armed thugs hired by his party had frightened opposition
voters to keep them away from the polls, and ballot boxes
were stuffed with phony ballots. It was the dirtiest election
in Philippine history.

The Cold War comes to Asia and the Philippines
Until 1949, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was
focused on Europe, far from the Philippines. But in October 1949, the Chinese Civil
War came to an end when the the communists won and China became the People’s
Republic of China. The United States now had two big communist enemies: The
Soviet Union and China. The U.S. began a policy of “containment” to prevent the
emergence of other communist regimes. The American bases in the Philippines now
became very important.
Chap 18, pg 2
1949 Mutual Defense Assistance Act
In 1949 the U.S. Congress passed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, promising defense
assistance to any ally that might be attacked by the Soviet Union. The bill gave millions of
dollars in military aid to the Philippines.
Two Disturbing Reports
1. Bell Mission
In 1950, US President Truman sent a mission headed by Daniel Bell to evaluate the
economic development of the Philippines. The team reported:
“the profits of businessmen and the incomes of large landowners have risen very considerably
[but] the standard of living of most people is lower than before the war.”
And: “the Quirino Government was in such a critical condition that only the most
far-reaching program of reform and self-help, supported by technical and economic
assistance from this country, could save the Philippines from total collapse.”
The U.S. Government was worried that increasing poverty could lead to a revolution
like China’s, with the obedient Philippine government being replaced by a communist
government antagonistic to the United States. The investigating team recommended
drastic reforms.
However, the authority of the Philippine government rested on approval from the
wealthy elites, and they blocked reform.
2. U.S. National Security Council Report
Meanwhile, a top-secret 1950 U.S. National Security Council report similarly concluded:
“Inequalities in the Philippines, always large, have become greater during the past few years
while the standard of living of the mass of people has not reached the pre-war level. The
profits of businessmen and the incomes of large land owners have risen considerably. The
deterioration of the economic system has caused a widespread feeling of disillusionment.”
Furthermore, the report continued, “The communist-led Huk movement has taken advantage
of the deteriorating economic situation and exploited the antagonistic attitudes of the people
toward the government in order to incite lawlessness and disorder.... The extent and manner
in which the necessary influence is brought to bear on the Philippine Government to accomplish
essential reforms presents to the U.S. Government a most difficult and delicate problem.
Extreme care must therefore be exercised in the methods used to persuade the Philippine
Government to take the necessary action, to do nothing would result in disaster.”
How would the U.S. Government react?

Chap 18, pg 3
A Dilemma for the United States
In 1950 the US Government found itself in a difficult position:
To successfully wage the Cold War against the Soviet Union and Communist China, the U.S. needed its military
bases in the Philippines in order to project military power throughout East Asia. So, it needed a stable and loyal
Philippine government. However, the Philippine government in 1950 appeared unstable, and the U.S. feared
that it might be overthrown by the Hukbalahap, who might establish a hostile regime which would cancel the
American base leases and send the U.S. military home. To prevent this, the U.S. knew that popular support for
the Huks could be reduced if economic and social reforms were made.
But the Philippine economic elite were opposed to any changes which might compromise their economic and
political control. Yet if reforms were not implemented, it increased the likelihood of a popular revolution. Would
should the United States Government do?
Rather than viewing the Huks as a legitimate rebellion of poor farmers who just wanted land and a chance to
escape poverty by their own labor, American strategists chose to view them through the prism of the Cold War:
the Huks were a local outbreak of the virus of global Communism who needed to be stamped out. Rather than
trying to eliminate the cause of the rebellion by pushing the Philippine elites to implement reforms, the U.S.
Government settled on a military solution to the problem: crush the Huks.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
The Central Intelligence Agency is part of the United States Government, established in 1947
to provide accurate information to government policymakers. In 1948 the CIA’s charter was
expanded to include covert (secret) operational activities. These secret duties were run by the
Office of Policy Coordination (OPC.) In 1950 the U.S. decided to use OPC against the Huks.
Frank Wisner was the director of the
Office of Policy Coordination.
One of his CIA deputies was Lieutenant
Colonel Edward Lansdale, an Air Force
“psy-war” (psychological warfare) expert.
Early in 1950, a delegation of Philippine legislators went to Washington D.C., to lobby for
passage of the Rogers Bill, which would provide benefits to Filipino war veterans. One of
the delegates was a Congressman named Ramon Magsaysay. In Washington, he met Colonel
Lansdale, who introduced him to his boss Frank Wisner. Both Americans were impressed
with the young Philippine Congressman.
Since the CIA had been assigned the task of destroying the Hukbalahap insurgency, Frank Wisner
offered Magsaysay a deal: the CIA would provide undercover support for Magsaysay’s political career if he
would act as America’s surrogate.
When Magsaysay returned to the Philippines, the U.S. State Department and the JUSMAG (Joint United States
Military Assistance Group) pressured President Quirino to appoint Magsaysay as Secretary of National Defense,
which he did. The CIA then had Colonel Lansdale assigned to the JUSMAG, to assist the Armed Forces of the
Philippines against the Huks. The stage was set.

War against the Huks
The Hukbalahap guerrillas, who had fought the Japanese during World War II,
were mostly illiterate, landless farmers who just wanted their own plots of land.
But the counterinsurgency campaign devised by Lansdale and Magsaysay portrayed
them as dangerous Communists directed by the evil Russians.
There were several parts of the new counterinsurgency strategy:
Chap 18, pg 4
In 1950 Colonel Lansdale arrived in the Philippines to work with the new
Defense Minister, Ramon Magsaysay, to create a military counter-insurgency
operation against the Huks. The two worked closely, Lansdale providing the
innovative ideas and unconventional methods and Magsaysay issuing the
official orders.
1. Conventional military operations
The Philippine Constabulary was merged with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and
expanded, then given new guns, vehicles, and a small air force by the US. They aggressively
pursued the Huks and offered cash rewards to any soldier who killed a guerrilla.
2. Psychological Warfare
A new Civil Affairs Office (CAO) was set up to create anti-Huk propaganda. This was
Lansdale’s specialty, and he supervised the production and distribution of millions of
anti-Huk leaflets, the making of movies and books, organization of anti-communist
rallies in colleges and grade schools, hiring of spies to infiltrate the Huks, and waging
of a disinformation campaign by spreading lies about the Huk leadership.
3. Dirty tricks campaign
Of many new techniques used, one became famous: Lansdale decided to apply
some psyops (psychological operations) to displace Huk guerrillas who were
hiding out in a mountain region. First local intelligence agents planted stories in
the community about asuang (vampires) living in the hills. Then Constabulary
soldiers set up an ambush along a Huk trail. When a Huk patrol came by, the
troops let them pass, except for the last man, whom they grabbed. After killing
him, they made two small holes in his neck and then hung him upside down and
allowed all his blood to drain out. The body was left on the trail for the Huks to
find when they came back looking for him. The Huk unit vanished into thin air
the next day, leaving the mountain to the government troops.
A Great Success
The Anti-Huk campaign was one of the most successful anti-guerrilla wars in modern history. It pleased the
Philippine landholding elite who feared losing their big estates to the poor peasants. The U.S. was relieved
because survival of the Quirino Government assured the crucial military bases would stay in American hands.
The strategy became the model for future American counterinsurgency wars in Vietnam and Latin America.

1950 Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK)
At the urging of the United States, the Philippines sent an
expeditionary force of 7,500 combat troops to fight in the
Korean War in August 1950. The Philippine units were armed
and supplied by the United States and fought under the
command of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur as part of a
United Nations multinational force. Filipinos losses included
110 soldiers killed in action and an additional 300 wounded,
before all the Filipino soldiers were brought home in 1955.
1951 Mutual Defense Treaty
1953 Philippine Presidential Election
Chap 18, pg 5
In 1951 the Philippines and the United States signed and ratified the
Mutual Defense Treaty. The overall accord contained eight articles and
dictated that both nations would support each other if either the
Philippines or the United States were to be attacked by an external
party.
In the 1953 Philippine election, President Quirino ran
against Defense Minister Magsaysay, who had become very
popular due to his exploits against the Huks.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency helped to funnel funds
from American business interests to Magsaysay’s campaign,
and he won with 68% of the vote to become the new
Philippine President.