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    "localId": "225249417",
    "label": "Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Reports and Estimates Report, Number 78-48, The Current Situation in the Philippines",
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    "title": "Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Reports and Estimates Report, Number 78-48, The Current Situation in the Philippines",
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 30,
            "logicalDate": "1949-03-30",
            "month": 3,
            "year": 1949
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    "seq": 21,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
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    "ocrText": "SECRET\noperational activity only. Too much emphasis has been placed on operation without\nproper attention to supply procurement, financial support, and proper maintenance\nand storage. Approximately 50 percent serviceability of aircraft is maintained in tac-\ntical units of the Air Force. Under sustained operations, serviceability would drop to\napproximately 30 percent.\n(3) The Naval Patrol has a total strength of 1,780 and has a wartime mission\nof serving as an auxiliary defense force although it now performs coastal patrol func-\ntions. Having only a small number of patrol craft and limited maintenance facilities,\nthe Naval Patrol has not demonstrated effective capabilities to protect the long Philip-\npine coastline.\nb. The Reserve Force is not fully organized. The only reserve unit yet consti-\ntuted is the Constabulary which, by law, is a part of the Reserve Force. It is estimated\nthat at present not more than one regiment of reserves from World War II veterans\nand ex-guerrillas could be raised and organized within 30 to 60 days. In addition, three\nthousand universal military trainees, estimated to be the maximum training capability\nof the Republic, could be utilized.\n2.\nTHE CONSTABULARY.\nThe Philippine Constabulary, a reserve component and the largest single element\nof the Armed Forces, merits special mention. The Constabulary has a total strength\nof 18,862, including 2,056 troops from the Ground Force, and serves in peacetime\nas the national police force under the supervision of the Secretary of Interior. It is\ndivided into provincial commands with heaviest concentrations in central Luzon and\nMindanao. The current objective of the Constabulary to restore and maintain law\nand order in the disaffected central Luzon provinces has not been attained. However,\nConstabulary forces have been able to reduce the scale of Hukbalahap lawlessness\nthereby preventing it from becoming a serious threat to the stability of the national\ngovernment.\nAside from the long-standing agrarian discontent, which is the fundamental cause\nof Huk activities, the Constabulary's failure to achieve its mission is attributed to:\n(1) lack of aggressiveness on the part of lower echelons; (2) widespread civilian pos-\nsession of firearms from both Japanese and US sources and from loosely controlled com-\nmercial imports of small arms; (3) guerrilla tactics of the Huks; (4) lack of trained\nand disciplined personnel and equipment as well as inadequate pay; and (5) occasional\npassive resistance from the local populace which resents alleged Constabulary \"abuses\"\ncommitted during anti-Huk operations.\n3. REQUIREMENTS.\nFor fiscal year 1949 the government has appropriated approximately $27 million\nfor national defense (or about 23 percent of its total budget) In addition, about $15.7\nmillion was appropriated for the Constabulary. The Armed Forces are equipped with\nUS Army surplus equipment much of which is inoperable because of improper distribu-\ntion of parts. Partly as a result of climate and terrain, maintenance of the remainder\nis generally poor.\nbeniazi\n918\nBIE\n20"
}