Hukbalahap monument unveiled in Pampanga

PROUD DESCENDANTS Members of families who descended from Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap) leader Luis Taruc, along with Sen. Risa Hontiveros, pose in the first Hukbalahap monument unveiled on Saturday at Garden of Peace Memorial Park in San Luis, Pampanga. The monument, sculpted by Josef Andre Layug, is inscribed with the names of about 400 guerilla fighters who waged war against the Japanese occupation forces. —Photo by MADEL CALAYAG

SAN LUIS, PAMPANGA—The first life-size monument honoring the bravery and sacrifices of Luis Taruc and his fellow freedom fighters in the biggest peasant resistance against the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II was unveiled here on Saturday.

The monument, the first of its kind for the Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap), or Huks, and its “supremo” (leader), was erected inside the Garden of Peace Memorial Park in Taruc’s home village of Sta. Monica here.

It consisted of three concrete statues carved in the likeness of Taruc and two Hukbalahap fighters, the late Antonio Sumang and 96-year-old Praxedes Clarin, one of the nine surviving Huks.

Sculptor Josef Andre Canasa Layug, 27, who was commissioned by local businessman Abel Manliclic to design and carve the monument, said during the unveiling rite that he was not only grateful that he was entrusted with the project but has also deepened his understanding of the Huks, adding that “the peace we enjoy now is partly due to them.”

Robby Tantingco, director of the Center for Kapampangan Studies of Holy Angel University, said it was time to honor the Huks as all of World War II-related structures in the Philippines extol Filipino and American soldiers.

“And now, at last, is a proper monument for Luis Taruc and all the unnamed, unknown and unrecognized Huk guerrillas, built right here in his birthplace,” he told a roomful of audience that included the surviving Huks.

Clarin was joined in the event by fellow surviving Huks Olimpia Ingal, Narciso Garcia, Josefa Tolentino and Clemente Miranda, all 94; Dominga Sanchez, Anastacia Sali and Natalia Lacanlale, all 98; and Francisca Salas, 99. INQ