Army with Bloodhounds

Ever since he became President in 1948, pudgy little Elpidio Quirino has regularly announced that his government forces have routed the Philippines' Communist-led Huk guerrillas. Two weeks ago, the Huks went on the rampage again, attacked 15 villages, killed some 100 Filipino soldiers and civilians. Quirino decided it was time to tell the people the truth. He went on the radio, admitted his soldiers had failed to stem the Huk tide, called on his people to form a "citizens' army."

Most Filipinos applauded Quirino's candor. But the next day the President decided to postpone a much-needed housecleaning of the Philippine army top brass. The postponement so infuriated able Defense Secretary Ruperto Kangleon that he resigned. Quirino replaced him with 40-year-old Ramon Magsaysay, a staff officer with the U.S. cavalry during World War II.

Magsaysay wasted no time in announcing his own, three-point program for dealing with the Huks. It was a lulu. The program : 1) organize a unit of Negrito tribesmen to clean the Huks out of three major provinces ("The Negritos," said Magsaysay, "know the mountains better and are more deadly with the bow & arrow than the Huks are with a gun"); 2) import some bloodhounds from the U.S. to help track the Huks through the jungles; 3) dump all captured and surrendered Huks on an uninhabited island and there teach them the democratic way of life.

Meantime, as the Huks gathered in the mountains to prepare for further raids-- as soon as they could stop laughing over Magsaysay's silly maunderings--plain Filipinos were wondering about their citizens' army. "How can you form a citizens' army," asked one Manilan, "if you cannot tell who is the loyal citizen and who is the dissident?"

The fledgling republic was in gravest danger.

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