Huk leader Luis Taruc finally comes home

HOMECOMING The ashes of Hukbalahap leader Luis Taruc, kept in a marble urn, are brought for reinterment in his hometown of San Luis in Pampanga province. —TONETTE OREJAS

SAN LUIS, PAMPANGA—In what National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose described as a homecoming, the ashes of Luis Taruc, leader of Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap), were finally returned to his birthplace on Thursday just as he wished before he died in 2005.

The reinterment rites, which were held on the feast day of the town’s patron saint, Aloysius Gonzaga, and Taruc’s 105th birthday, concluded a short but elaborate journey, according to Francis Musni, who supervised the activities on behalf of Holy Angel University’s Center for Kapampangan Studies (CKS).

Since its founding in 1942, Hukbalahap waged the staunchest peasant-based resistance movement in the country during World War II.

Exhumation

Taruc’s remains were exhumed from Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City on June 19 and were cremated there.

San Luis Mayor Venancio Macapagal and other town officials observed the process according to protocols set by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), Musni said.

Past noon, the cortege headed to the Pampanga provincial capitol in the City of San Fernando where officials paid their respects to Taruc.

Taruc and Hukbalahap fighters stormed the capitol in 1944, liberating it from Japanese control.

The ashes, contained in a white marble urn, were then taken to the church in San Luis town for a two-night vigil.

On Thursday, Pampanga Archbishop Emeritus Paciano Aniceto and 10 other priests celebrated Mass and blessed the ashes of Taruc, who remained a Catholic in spite of his adherence to the socialist ideology.

Patriot

Taruc, who came from a family of farmers and tailors, was introduced to socialism by his mentor, Pedro Abad Santos, founder of the Socialist Party of the Philippines.

In his homily, Aniceto called Taruc a “patriota” (patriot) who “proclaimed the truth and worked for peace.”

Macapagal carried the urn during a procession to San Luis Freedom Park, leading more than 500 people as the provincial government band played the funeral dirge, locally known as “Istabat,” and the old patriotic song, “Bayan Ko.”

The Philippine National Police gave a 21-gun salute before Macapagal placed the urn in a square niche at the foot of the freedom monument.

Hometown burial

The reinterment, Musni said, was inspired by the marker installed by the NHCP at the same park in 2017. Taruc’s son Romeo told Musni that a diary exhibited at the park’s Luis Taruc Museum revealed how the burial should proceed.

In an entry, Taruc wrote about his desire to be buried in his hometown.

“We did a final act of kindness for a man who sacrificed so much for his country. He deserved to be laid to rest in his land of birth,” said CKS executive director Robby Tantingco.

Taruc’s grandniece, Zenaida, expressed the family’s gratitude for the honor bestowed by the state.

Jose, 93, attended the ceremony to pay his respects to Taruc, who he called a friend and a “genuine peasant leader.”