GEN. ED.

COLEGIO DE SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA

Supervised by the Lasallian Schools Supervision Office
Ramon M. Durano Foundation Compound,
Guinsay, Danao City, Cebu
Tel. No. (032) 344-4709

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

FINAL PERIOD

Revised: 08/22 A.Y. 2022-2023

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Lesson 1 – Postwar Period and Neocolonialism in the Philippines
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Definition of Terms

Neocolonialism. The control of less-developed countries by developed countries

through indirect means of political, economic, or cultural pressure instead of military
control.

Cold War. The period of non-warfare rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United
States and their respective allies from 1947 to 1991.

Huk Rebellion. A Communist-led peasant uprising in Central Luzon from 1946 to 1954.

Democracy. The belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of

government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected
representatives or directly by the people themselves.
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Lesson Introduction

On 4 July 1946, the Americans bestowed upon the Filipino people their full
independence. However, despite the recognition of the full sovereignty of the newly
independent nation, the Philippines remained dependent on the United States. Its
economic policies, political system, and state agenda were made and implemented to
favor the Americans. The postwar years of the country can be summarized to the single
theme of neocolonialism. While the government was composed of Filipinos. the United
States had a close influence on the nationally elected governments that ruled the
country for most of the twentieth century. While the country ceased to be a U.S.
territory, the relationship that was built between the two countries still contained
elements of colonial subservience and dependency. In this lesson, we are going to look
at different primary sources that demonstrate American neocolonialism in the
Philippines from the immediate postwar years until the culmination of the EDSA
republic.

This lesson tackles the postwar period in the Philippines by looking at three documents
that demonstrate the kind of relationship between the Philippines as a newly
independent nation-state and its former colonizer and world superpower, the United
States of America. We are going to read and analyze three different kinds of primary
sources that are useful in painting the picture of the Philippines during this period. The
first document is a declassified U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) file that reports
the conditions in the Philippines in the year 1950, the second is an article published in
the magazine called the Philippine Free Press about the 1953 presidential election, and
the last one is the speech delivered by former President Corazon Aquino before the
U.S. Congress in September 1986.

CIA Intelligence Memorandum No. 296 of June 1950

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States was established after World
War II. It became the primary agency of the United States in terms of intelligence work
that has been crucial as they traverse a new world order-the Cold War period. This
period culminated after World War II and is characterized with the relentless competition
between the democratic-capitalist United States of America and the socialist-communist
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) for world supremacy. In such a context, the
Philippines, as a former U.S. colony, was automatically presumed to be under the U.S.
umbrella. Thus, the policies of the postwar presidents in the Philippines ostensibly
featured anti-communist and liberal economic leanings. These were explicitly
demonstrated in many CIA documents that were produced about the Philippines in this

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period. These documents were originally confidential and classified. After the enactment
of the Freedom of Information law in the United States, CIA declassified volumes of
papers that were over 25 years old. However, most of these documents were labeled as
"sanitized copies."

One of the earliest documents was Intelligence Memorandum No. 296 with the
subject "Current Situation in the Philippines" dated 6 June 1950. The memorandum is a
five-page report on the political, economic, and military situation in the Philippines, and
how these conditions dictate its relationship with the United States. The introduction of
the report stated:

Even though deteriorating conditions in the Philippines should in the near

future cause the downfall of President Quirino, the succeeding administration
could be expected to be pro-US. If the present decline in stability throughout the
Philippines continues for as much as ten years, however, pro-Communist forces
might be able to seize power.

The report was divided into three parts: political situation, economic situation, and
military situation. For the United States, these aspects were the most important ones in
appraising the Philippines.

In the political aspect, the United States was pessimistic about the presidency of
President Elpidio Quirino. His government was marred by corruption scandals across
different levels of governance. The CIA detected an "active resentment against
governmental inefficiency and abuses" among the people, which led to a general loss of
confidence in the government." This bleak development, in the CIA's assessment,
further strengthened the Communist-led Huk movement in Luzon CIA also described
"administrative corruption and inefficiency at virtually all levels Corruption was said to be
perpetrated by the "small group of wealthy landowners and entrepreneurs who
constitute the Filipino ruling clique" and "resulting from lack of civil spirit, from
knowledge of economic power, and from confidence in the past apathy of the
disorganized and uneducated mass of the people."

In terms of the Philippine economy at that period, CIA described the Philippines as
"almost self-sufficient in food [which] favors long-range stability However, they also
mentioned how "long-standing Inequalities in the nation's agrarian system... have been
exploited by the Communist and have not only facilitated the development of the Huk
movement in Luzon but are producing unrest elsewhere in the archipelago. The CIA
also mentioned the critical problem of the "nation's rapidly deteriorating financial
position. The Philippine government dealt with this problem by increasing taxes and
tightening import control. These measures resulted in price increases in imported
goods. The government also encountered difficulties in the conduct of foreign trade,
which further led to "increased popular doubt as to the country's economic future, which
led to aggravated political instability."

Aside from the corruption and inefficiency of the government, which the CIA saw as a
result of "political immaturity and inadequate education," the law enforcement
institutions of the Philippine Constabulary and the Philippine Armed Forces were also
seen to not possess any "capability for maintaining law and order or even for preventing
destructive raids by the Huks." The Huks, which was the central concern of the United
States, was an organization that fought the Japanese in the preceding war period and
became an anti-government group during the postwar years. In this 1950 document, the
CIA estimated that "although Huk activity is presently confined in the island of Luzon, it
is expanding and growing more intensive."

The 1950 estimate of the CIA on Huk membership was pegged at 15,000 with the
prospect of further increase. The CIA believed that the Huks were equipped with

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weapons that were sufficient and appropriate for their guerrilla operations. These
weapons were acquired through theft, purchase, and seizure from government forces.
The guerrillas were also sustained with the food and clothing "willingly contributed by
sympathetic peasants and villagers." At times, the Huks also resort to force or
Intimidation in acquiring these essential supplies. The CIA assessed that the Huks were
of high morals as evident on the "very few Huks [who] have taken advantage of past
Government amnesty offers." On the other hand, the CIA's appraisal of the Philippine
Armed Forces and Constabulary was pessimistic. While the government forces were
"well-equipped in comparison with their opponents" with U.S.-sourced materials, the
combat efficiency of both the Army and the Constabulary lacked coordination and
suffered from the failure in relieving small units in the field. While the deteriorating
political stability of the period had little to no effect on the loyalty of the uniformed
personnel, their morale was generally low. The CIA concluded that

the "unit leadership is not of high quality, and an aggressive spirit is lacking in all ranks.
The ineffectiveness of government forces is in part attributable to difficult terrain and
local sympathy for the Huks."

Analysis of the CIA Memorandum

It is essential to have contextual knowledge of the 1950 period to appreciate the report
summarized on the previous pages. As mentioned, the period that immediately followed
World War II was dictated by the Cold War. In this period, the two strongest and most
powerful nation-states in the world were vying for world supremacy and were engaging
in a diplomatic contest. Both the United States and the USSR were suspecting each
other of an agenda to dominate the world.

Both countries engaged in a race of accumulation of arms, territories, and wealth to

secure their place in the current world order. The fundamental difference between them
would be their respective state ideologies. On the one hand, the United States was
committed to liberal democracy and a liberal capitalist political economy. These ideas,
after all, launched the relatively young nation to world greatness in a matter of decades.
On the other hand, the USSR was as committed to their socialist and communist
ideology and the intent to export the glorious Russian Communist Revolution of 1917
across the world.

In this scenario, the United States, erstwhile colonial master and ally of the nascent
Philippine Republic, was positioning in the Pacific. The Philippines, as its territory since
1899, was an essential stronghold as the Chinese Communist Party's revolution
succeeded in 1949. The United States wanted to contain communism in the Pacific and
Southeast Asia. That was why the presence of a growing communist army, the Huks,
was a U.S. concern.

This concern was apparent in this August 1950 memo. The report, while presenting a
general picture of the Philippines, was centrally concerned with the current situation of
the Huk rebellion in the country. For example, in characterizing the political situation in
the country, the report ultimately tied back on the effects of instability and the increasing
discontent of the people against the government to the communist movement. They
were apprehensive about how the decline in the government's popularity and Quirino's
integrity would garner pro-communist sentiment. The same was true about their
economic appraisals.

Their report on the economic condition in the country centered on their appraisals of the
long-standing inequalities in the Philippine agricultural sector. Despite the projected self-
sufficiency on food, the CIA pointed out that the "continued failure of the Philippine
governing class-the beneficiaries of this agrarian system- to alleviate inequities has

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provided local Communists with excellent opportunities to organize the otherwise
leaderless peasantry."

The CIA's preoccupation with the Huk rebellion is most highlighted in their report on the
country's military situation. They pointed out the continuous strengthening of the rebel
forces and the bleak improvements of the Armed Forces and Constabulary.

The CIA had detailed intelligence on the capacities and artillery of the Huks and
expressed concerns on the ability of the rebels to acquire the sympathy of the rural
population.

Like most of the declassified files of the CIA, this memo is also a sanitized copy. Hence,
it can be inferred that more controversial appraisals of the CIA have been omitted in the
version that the agency has approved for publication. Nevertheless, a contextual
reading of the document reveals insights on the agenda and interests of the United
States in the Philippines during the years that immediately followed the War and the
initial years of the Cold War period that would last until the disintegration of the USSR in
the last decade of the twentieth century.
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Lesson Assessment
Lesson 1
Activity: Think, Pair, Share.

As discussed previously, the CIA had significant participation in the postwar

government's fight against the communist-led Huk rebellion. One of the tactics
employed by the CIA was psychological warfare. Read an excerpt from Brig. Gen.
Edward G. Lansdale's memoir below:

"To the superstitious, the Huk battleground was a haunted place filled with ghosts and
eerie creatures. Some of its aura of mystery was imparted to me on my own visits there.
Goose-bumps rose on my arms on moonless nights in Huk territory as I listed to the
haunting minor notes of trumpets playing Pampangueña dirges in the barrios or to the
mournful singings of men and women known as nangangaluluwa as they walked from
house to house on All Saints' night telling of lost and hungry souls. Even Magsaysay
believed in the apparition called a kapre, a huge black man said to walk through tall
grass at dusk to make it stir or to sit in a tree or astride a roof smoking a large cigar.

One psywar operation played upon the popular dread of an asuang, or vampire, to solve
a difficult problem. Local politicians opposed Magsaysay's plan of moving more troops
out of defensive garrisons to form further mobile and aggressive BCTS (Battalion
Combat Teams), and in one town the local bigwigs pointed out that a Huk squadron was
based on a hill near town. If the troops left, they were sure the Huks would swoop down
on the town and the bigwigs would be their victims. Only if the Huk squadron left the
vicinity would they agree to the removal of the guarding troops. The problem, therefore,
was to get the Huks to move. The local troops had not been able to do this.

A combat psywar squad was brought in. It planted stories among town residents of an
asuang living on the hill where the Huks were based. Two nights later. after giving the
stories time to circulate among Huk sympathizers in the town and make their way up to
the hill camp, the psywar squad set up an ambush along a trail used by the Huks.