Anti-Insurgency Operation

After gaining independence from the United States on July 4, 1946. The Philippine government was in a predicament where it faced the realities and responsibilities of being a sovereign government as it adjusts and familiarized itself to different problems such as its faltering economy, widespread poverty, and internal rebellion. During the election season, Roxas won the presidential candidacy on November of 1946. After his 1947 inauguration, Roxas was determined to push through with his promise of ridding the country of the Huks. Using his influence within the congress, Roxas denied different congressmen and senators of their seats because he felt they were allied with the democratic alliance that supports the Huks. This was when the Philippine government had to deal with the communist insurgency group — a well-organized, popularly supported, and communist insurgency group called the Hukbalahap. Luis Taruc resumed his plans to overthrow the government after being denied of his Congress seat. The Huks received active support from the local people, and even according to Taruc himself, "People in the barrios .. . joined because they had causes - like agrarian reform, government reform, anti-repression, recognition of the Hukbalahap - and, frequently, because they simply had to defend themselves, their very lives against repression." Taruc utilized this and made it the key to the success and persistence of the Huk.

As the government was slowly being brought to its collapse, the nation countered this direct attack on its democratic government by applying anti-Huk policies to fight back against the insurgency they were facing. These policies were only further amplified when Ramon Magsaysay was appointed as the Secretary of National Defense in the 31st of August 1950. His efforts continued on when he was eventually elected as the seventh president of the Philippines on the 30th of December 1953. Magsaysay proceeded with his plans of revitalizing the Armed Forces of the Philippines and winning back the people's allegiance to the Philippine government. He was slowly changing the course of the rebellion by utilizing the American military and economic assistance he had which eventually led to the success of the anti-Huk campaign.