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Upper Hand. He was scarcely a welcome addition. Philippine armymen bluntly recommended that Bandit Taruc be brought to trial (for murder, treason and arson) and quickly sentenced to death. They well remembered Taruc's last"surrender"—in 1948, when he accepted an amnesty, returned to his seat in the Philippine Congress (to which he was elected in the liberation days of 1946), collected his back pay, and skedaddled back to the Luzon hills. This time, snapped General Jesus Vargas, the army's chief of staff, no deal had been made; Magsaysay owed Taruc nothing."We have the upper hand. Why should we grant conditions?"
Despite the peculiar circumstances of his surrender, there could be no doubt that Taruc's guerrilla army is in despair. In the Philippines at least, the Communists are now on the run. After interviewing Taruc, General Vargas gave his own estimate that Huk strength in the field has fallen from a high of 10,000 in 1948 to less than 1,500. Huk"sympathizers," some of them starved into despair by the government's ruthless pursuit, others attracted by the government's offer of more land and security, have probably been reduced from around a million to about 30,000.
As an old and faithful Communist, Taruc may have concluded that he could best serve his waning cause by giving up.
"There is no further reason," Taruc volunteered helpfully during his interrogation, "why more blood should be spilled."