C. The Party During the Japanese Occupation
When the Japanese invaders occupied Manila in January 1942, the Party leadership took no steps to leave the city in an organized way so that soon after, the first line of leadership was easily arrested by the Japanese fascists. The second line of leadership and the mass of Party members who had also been concentrated in the city spontaneously fled to the countryside in various directions. Nevertheless, the majority of Party members fled to various towns in Central Luzon but without coordination.
The Central Luzon Bureau Conference was held on February 6, 1942 to discuss Party policies in the face of the grave situation. It was at this conference that the decision to organize a guerrilla army was taken and the ascendance of the second line of leadership to the central leadership was formalized. Vicente Lava, who became general secretary, was elected in absentia as he had fled to Rizal province. Over a month later on March 29, the Hukbalahap (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon) or the People's Anti-Japanese Army was established in Barrio San Lorenzo in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija.
Meanwhile, two principal leaders of the Party who had been arrested, Abad Santos and Capadocia, agreed to cooperate with the Japanese in convincing Party members to desist from resistance. However, the former was incapacitated by illness and the latter was arrested by the Party when he attempted to implement his compromise. Later on, however, Capadocia was re-educated by the Party.
The Party and the army was based in the Mount Arayat area. It did not take long for the Japanese to pinpoint the area as the seat of the Party and in 1943 the Japanese launched the so-called March Raid which resulted in the capture of many leading Party cadres and members.
During the encircling raid, the people in the vicinity of Mount Arayat dispersed and tried to slip through in small groups; in the process, many leading cadres and members were captured. In an attempt to minimize losses from the enemy offensive, the Vicente Lava leadership adopted the "retreat for defense" policy.
The "retreat for defense" policy meant the breaking up of all Hukbalahap "squadrons" (of company strength) and other units of platoon strength into minuscule units of three to five fighters. It promoted tactical passivity and helplessness in the face of the enemy. It fell in line with the "lie-low" policy of the USAFFE.
It was only as late as the Bagumbali Conference of late September 1944, when the Party declared the "retreat for defense" policy incorrect, that the Hukbalahap "squadrons" were regrouped to take the offensive against the enemy. After a policy of active resistance was taken and implemented, the strength of the people's armed forces increased by leaps and bounds. But while this policy was adopted, the US air force had already started to bombard the Philippines, preparing for massive landing by the US imperialist military forces.
While the "retreat for defense" policy in particular was corrected and Vicente Lava was demoted from the general secretaryship, he retained his membership in the Central Committee to promote together with others a Right opportunist line. The Bagumbali Conference decided to prepare the establishment of the Democratic Alliance for parliamentary struggle upon the return of US imperialism and the Commonwealth government.
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