Sorry to hear that you don't want to continue, I've enjoyed and found interesting our back-and-forth here.

Couple notes in closing:

I'm confident on my sourcing on the site of the Aurora Quezon assassination. You're right that Quezon's motorcade was on its way to Baler, but they were in Nueva Ecija when ambushed. Every source I've consulted cites an ambush in Nueva Ecija. Check for example the New York Times article on the assassination, dated April 29, 1949. "Mrs. Aurora Aragon Quezon, widow of the first President of the Philippines; two members of her family and ten other persons were killed in ambush yesterday in Hukbalahap-ridden Nueva Ecija province...."

Viernes was not a renegade in the sense you're suggesting. There's a reasonable argument as to whether Taruc and the HQ knew what he was planning, but I haven't seen any source question that Viernes and his squadron were recognized a recognized Huk unit generally acting under orders.

I don't deny that clashes with landlords and their guards were common after world war II; I'm just arguing (as I think most sources on the subject do) that there was also a concerted effort by the Huk leadership to engage government forces through the 1946-1950 period, with perhaps two or three breaks, and to undermine governmental legitimacy throughout Central Luzon.

Kerkvliet has a much more Communist-friendly depiction of pre-World War II peasant organization in Central Luzon, and is generally more generous to the Huk cause than most other works I've seen. I've read Pomeroy. I've seen Sison's work, but haven't spent too much time with him. Thanks for the tip on those.