Once American forces recaptured the Philippines from the Japanese in February 1945, the Huks shifted their objective from fighting the Japanese to gaining independence, which was promised by the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934. To continue to build support, the Huks formed a political party and ended up winning a number of elections in 1947. However, the American-backed Filipino government denied the Huks their seats in parliament, because the Americans wanted the Philippines to remain a capitalist country, as any communist rebels, such as the Huks, posed a strong threat in the tense Cold War period. In response to this, the Huks returned to the mountains to prepare to fight and they renamed themselves “Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan”, meaning “People’s Liberation Army” in November 1948.
As the Huks rebelled against the Filippino government, calling for a leftist, communist society, they came close to toppling and defeating the government in 1950. However, the Filipino government, led by President Ramon Magsaysay, was able to fight off the Huks and turn the tide of the battle.
When the Huk leader, Taruc, surrendered in 1954, the movement ended and Magsaysay's campaign against the Huks became the model for U.S. efforts in Vietnam. Years later in the late 1960s, rural discontent of the Huks and supporting peasants once again motivated the Huks to take up arms against the capitalist government. However, President Ferdinand Marcos, with the help of the U.S. government, launched a military campaign that crushed them in 1969.
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