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BORN
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O
OF THE
PEOPLE
by Luis Taruc
With a Foreword by Paul Robeson
INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
To the Common Tao
Who Will Come Into His Own
1953,
COPYRIGHT, BY
INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS CO., INC.
g^H|I^d209
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
Contents
Foreword by Paul Robeson 7
PART 1: THE SOCIAL CANCER
1. The Barrio 13
2. Town and School 17
3. City and Barrio Again
22
4. Awakening
26
5. The Class Struggle 33
6. The Enemy from Outside 48
PART n: HUKBALAHAP
7. The Birth of Resistance 56
8. The Hukbalahap 65
9. Early American Contacts 70
10. Attack 73
11. The People Produce Leaders 83
12. Self-Evaluation 104
13. Counter-Attack 108
14. Mass Base: The BUDC 116
15. The People’s Army 127
16. Growth and Development 142
17. Huk and Anti-Huk 147
18. Southern Front 162
19. Manila Front 169
20. The All-Out Offensive 176
21. “Liberation” 186
PART in: STRUGGLE FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION
22. The Enemy Within 212
23. The Betrayal of the People 226
24. The Fight for Survival 240
25. U.S. Imperialism 258
26. Epilogue and Prologue 277
Glossary 283
Abbreviations 284
Biographical Notes 285
MAPS
Central Luzon 57
Southern Luzon 163
Foreword
When I was in Hawaii a few years ago it was my privilege
to sing for and with the sugar and pineapple workers, to clasp
their hands in firm friendship, to share for a short time their way
of life. Truly, here was unity, amazingly broad—Hawaiians,
Japanese-Americans, Portugese, black and white workers from
the United States, Chinese and Chinese-Americans, and many
workers from the Philippines.
Not long before a noted singer from the Philippines had
visited Hawaii, to appear in the usual concert series sponsored
by the “Big Five” Companies. I had come as the guest of the
unions. We had long discussions with my brothers and sisters
from the Philippines about artists and others serving the people
in their struggles toward a better life.
They talked of their land, of the Hukbalahap, of the fight to
survive against Japanese fascism, and later against the vicious
forces of American imperialism and against their own colla¬
borators like Manuel Roxas and Elpidio Quirino.
My mind often went back to 1898, the year of my birth, the
same year that President McKinley felt the divine call to export
“freedom and liberty” to the people of the Philippines. The real
story of that time has been recorded, one of the most shameful
periods of United States history, comparable to the British in
India and South Africa, the Belgians in the Congo, or for that
matter, the United States in almost any section of Latin America,
beginning with Mexico and Panama.
Then the talk would break off and feasting and singing would
begin. They would tell me in song and story of the beautiful
land set in the Eastern Sea, of the lovely mountains, of the warm,
simple people, and of their hopes, longings, and firm resolve to
7
8 Foreword
work out and control their own destinies. Before leaving the
island I was proud to be able in one concert to sing a few of
their beautiful songs for them.
So with great anticipation I began to read the story of Luis
Taruc, the great leader of the Hukbalahap, and of the Philip¬
pine people. For truly, as Taruc says, this is the saga of the peo¬
ple, for from them is he sprung and to them is he so closely
bound.
Often we talk of the struggles of colonial peoples, of the early
struggles here in the days of our nation’s birth. We are daily in
touch with the sufferings and strivings of 15 million Negro Amer¬
icans for nationhood in the South and full freedom in all the
land. We follow the surging forward of the emergent African
nations, all over that vast continent.
What part does this great land of ours play in those world
changes? We see the administration at their deadly work in
Korea. We hear talk of “no imperialist ambitions,” but we see
the close ties with the remnants of Japanese and West-German
fascism. We watch with dread the policies of a General Mac-
Arthur and a John Foster Dulles coming into ascendancy. We
know that we must widen and deepen the struggle for peace,
that we must fight for these United States to help civilization
forward, not to attempt to check its march and even threaten to
destroy it.
We ask ourselves: What can we do, what methods can we
employ, what role can culture play? Can we really build a strong
united front? How can we best defend our leaders? How do we
stimulate the activity of the masses? In short, how can we head
off a threatening but as yet unrealized domestic fascism?
And, amid all the political realities, what of the human beings
involved? For we fight with and for people. How is such courage
possible, such unswerving, deep belief, such devotion and
sacrifice as are needed today? We live it too, through brave
working class leaders in the United States—Eugene Dennis,
Ben Davis, Steve Nelson, Claudia Jones, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn,
Henry Winston—through courageous workers and intellectuals.
Here in Taruc’s searching and moving story, the whole strug¬
gle is laid bare—the terrible suffering and oppression, the slow
Foreword 9
torturous seeking for the “basic reasons” and for the “right
methods of action, the tremendous wisdom and perseverance in
carrying through, the endless courage, understanding, determi¬
nation of the people, of all sections of the people, for national
liberation and dignity.
For in the end, says Taruc, the answer is the people, in them
lies the eternal wisdom. They are like the sea, seemingly calm
at times on the surface, but raging beneath. They may seem to
be patient and slow to move, but once they understand, no forces
can hold them back until final victory.
No one reading this book can doubt the ultimate victory of
these brave, warm-hearted, joyful, sensitive people of the Philip¬
pines. They’ll make it, as have tens of millions in the Soviet
Union, China, and the People’s Democracies, and the other mil¬
lions of the earth will follow them. For freedom is a precious
tiling, and the inalienable birthright of all who travel this earth.
And in the end every people will claim its rightful heritage.
One often speaks of the emergence of a “new kind of human
being.”
In this magnificent and moving autobiography we see Luis
Taruc grow with the people, reach into the most basic roots of
the people, embrace and become a part of a whole people mov¬
ing swiftly and unbendingly toward full national liberation. In
the process, Taruc and many, many others become new kinds of
human beings, harbingers of the future.
This is an intensely moving story, full of the warmth, courage,
and love which is Taruc.
Here certainly is proof that the richest humanist tradition is
inherited and will be continuously enriched by the working
class, acting in closest bonds with the peasantry and honest
vanguard intelligentsia—intellectuals who know that they must
“serve the people, not enemies of the people.”
How necessary that we learn the simple yet profound lessons
of united action, based upon the deepest respect for the people’s
wisdom, understanding, and creative capacity.
Here is a rich experience in life itself, of practice and theory,
theory and practice.
Know, Taruc, that like your American friend there are other
10 Foreword
brave Americans who understand, there is the other America.
And to “Bio,” to G.Y., to the memory of Eva Cura Taruc, to you,
Taruc, and to all of your beloved comrades, we of the other
America make this solemn vow. The fight will go on. The fight
will still go on until we win freedom, friendship among peoples,
the co-existence of many ways of life, the right to live full and
many-sided human lives in dignity and lasting peace.
/
Paul Robeson
