Excellent points on the "limited" or "unfinished" nature of the victory against the Huk. That it was seen as a victory in 1954 does not mean in the long run the initial reforms became manifest or successful, especially after Magsaysay's death. Thanks.

I agree that Taruc in particular has not been dealt with well in the literature on the initial defeat of the Huk. Most scholars use his two memoirs (the first co written with Jesus Lava and William Pomeory, the second a prison memoir edited by Douglas Hyde) for mere color and haven't given them serious consideration. They're highly charged works, to be sure, jingoist in different directions, but very valuable and illuminating when read in conjuncture with other work of the era, like, as you mentioned, Kerkvliet's stunning one volume history. The division between the more socialist/nationalist members of the Huk, vis a vi the more doctrainaire or hardline communists, was one of the seeds of discord that thrived as Magsaysay, Lansdale and Bohannan shifted the strategy between 1950-1953.

Many thanks for your thoughts, Dayhan.