SURRENDER AT BARRIO SANTA MARIA

How the Philippine's Top Communist Turned Himself In

Last week a resolute President of the Philippines, a powerful army and a 21 -year-old Manila Times reporter named Benigno Aquino brought about the surrender of Philippine Communist Leader Luis Tame (TIME, May 24). This is Reporter Aquino's story.

ONE day last January, I went to the Manila fish market and a friend introduced me to an old man who was carrying a basket of stinking fish. The old man was Arsenio Taruc, a blood relation of Luis Taruc, the elusive Huk (Communist) terrorist. Since his kinsman's outlawry, he had lost his social position and was working as a part-time stevedore.

Reports were circulating that Taruc the Guerrilla was dead or had left the Philippines on a Soviet submarine, but when I told Arsenio that I would like to interview his notorious cousin, he said he would help. Arsenio knew that the Philippine army was getting the upper hand in its war against the Huks, and he wanted to warn Luis before it was too late.

Arsenio introduced me to Taruc's other relatives: Romeo, 17, his only son, who had spent four years in the hills with his father; Meliton, 52, Taruc's half brother. These kinsmen formed the nucleus of a crude little intelligence unit whose job was to seek out Taruc and arrange for me to see him.

The President Does Not Budge I had never set eyes on this hated guerrilla chief who, since 1946, had waged civil war against the Philippine Republic.

All I knew of him was that he and his followers had been accused of killing hundreds of innocent civilians, murdering the widow of the late Philippine President Manuel Quezon, burning bedridden patients in an army hospital. But barely three weeks after we went to work, Arsenio brought me the news: Taruc was willing to see me.

I met him in moonlight on the bank of a dried river bed in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Central Luzon. He was softspoken, clear-eyed and warm in manner; he impressed me as a nationalist first and a Communist second. Taruc said: "The people have spoken and overwhelmingly elected President Magsaysay.It is for us to accept their verdict..." He said he was ready to "negotiate a peace settlement." Then, with his followers, he melted into the jungle.

Back in Manila I informed President Magsaysay of the possibility of bringing Taruc back alive. The President referred me to the stern peace terms he had just offered the Huks:

P:Surrender by stages of all the Huk forces and their arms.

P:Maintenance of government sovereignty over all parts of the country.

P:Trial for all rebels charged with crimes, with permission to plead for clemency if convicted.

P:Resettlement of pardoned guerrillas on government land.

The President would not budge from these terms. Nor did he need to. The Philippine army, reinvigorated since Magsaysay took over, was scoring fresh victories. The dry season was setting in, allowing the troops to penetrate to the deepest Huk lairs, particularly the Candaba swamp which was Taruc's favorite refuge. A turning point had been reached: there were solid indications that the antirebel drive was sapping the morale as well as the armed strength of the hard-pressed enemy.

Cease Fire Rejected

Taruc evidently was being squeezed by the mounting pres sure. Through a courier he sent me a note asking for a meeting with Magsaysay himself, "whenever and wherever" the President desired. Magsaysay refused. "I will not give him the importance of meeting me," he said. As far as the President was concerned, Taruc was a common criminal, wanted for murder and sedition. He could either accept the government's terms or suffer the consequences at the hands of the Philippine army.

I now assumed the role of a presidential emissary. With Taruc's son Romeo, I met Taruc a second time. He was greatly disappointed at the President's refusal to meet him, but he was careful not to reject our terms outright. Instead, he made a counterproposal: a "cease-fire," with all military operations frozen while he consulted his Huk advisers. I told Taruc that President Magsaysay would never agree to a "cease-fire," which would simply take pressure off the guerrillas. Negotiations bogged down.

Magsaysay's retort was to order the army to launch a powerful new operation to "get Taruc." Ten thousand men kept it up for 90 days. The troops started using dogs and a squadron of cavalry to track down the Huks. And the President's program of rural roads, artesian wells and other assistances to the poor farmers began taking effect. The peasants were beginning to collaborate with government instead of with the rebels. They began selling information for a few pesos.

Taruc's Final Plea

On May 11, when the offensive was at its height, I got word that Luis Taruc wanted to see me again. I traveled in secrecy, since I did not want to break faith with the guerrilla by leading the soldiers to him. I waited, as arranged, in the church at Minalin, but Taruc did not show. Eventually, I got a note, again Taruc's "conditions" had dwindled.

All Taruc was asking this time was Magsaysay's promise that the word "surrender" would not be used in official documents. This time Magsaysay agreed, though only on the understanding that Taruc would accept all other peace terms --unconditionally. As prearranged with Taruc, I broadcast this message on May 13, dropping the news about the word "surrender" into a casual interview on the Let's Make Merry program on Station DZRH. Taruc accepted the inevitable.

The President's Terms Accepted

At 2 a.m. on May 17, President Magsaysay gave me the word: Bring Taruc down. For the first time, I had army clearance. Taruc set the rendezvous at Barrio Santa Maria, in the wilds of Pampanga Province, and the army agreed to suspend operations there between 7 and 9 a.m.*

I reached the barrio at 6:35 a.m. If I failed to return by 9 a.m., the troops would blow the place to smithereens. Taruc was waiting at the foot of Mt. Arayat, an extinct volcano. His lean figure was surrounded by the people of the barrio; like them, he wore a grey peasant shirt, brown pants and a wide-brimmed straw hat. The only question I asked was: "Do you accept the President's terms?" Taruc said: "I accept." He shook my hands warmly and said farewell to the barrio folk, many of them weeping. Minutes later we were speeding towards Manila, escorted by army jeeps.

This week the Philippines government formally charged Taruc with 24 counts of murder, sedition and rebellion. He will stand trial next month, and, if convicted, could be sentenced to death. The chances are, however, that President Magsaysay will grant clemency to Luis Taruc in the hope of encouraging his followers to follow his example and give up.

* First reports had it that an army lieutenant stopped the advancing troops just as they were about to capture Taruc, without the aid of Aquino. Actually, it was the barrio lieutenant, a local peace officer, who intervened; the army had nothing to do with it, and clearly understood its arrangement with Reporter Aquino.

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