The American Legacy the Philippines preferential treatment in their war plans. He gave MacArthur $500,000.00, General Sutherland $75,000.00, Richard Marshall $45,000.00 and MacArthur’s personal aide $20,000.00.34; 35 General Eisenhower was also offered money by President Quezon when he became Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, but the former declined the bribe. F. Post-War Philippines 1. How did MacArthur rebuild the Philippine government and its armed forces? Prior to the ‘granting’ of independence, MacArthur was made to reorganize the Commonwealth government and rebuild the Philippine Army. He made many decisions that would define the post-war era and the character of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. While the general trend in the liberation of Europe and Asia was to remove and punish those who collaborated with the enemy and replace them with patriots with proven integrity, honor and qualifications, MacArthur did the opposite. • In Central Luzon, a patriotic resistance movement had developed, and a de facto agrarian reform put in place. It had an underground government that had mass popular support. Most landlords and politicians in this region collaborated with the Japanese and had been driven out by their tenants who became guerrillas of the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap). This was the only resistance army that did not follow MacArthur’s orders to lie low, and became a potent force to reckon with in the post war period. During the war, they had the full support of tenants in the region who cultivated as free farmers the lands abandoned by landlords. They were a threat to US interests and MacArthur had long decided that they should not have any part in the new Commonwealth government. Hukbalahap squadrons (companies) had welcomed the coming of American troops and had participated in the mopping up operations against Japanese forces, including the so-called Great Raid in Nueva Ecija and the battle for Clark Airbase and had been entrusted in clearing up Basa Air Base and in the Battle of Manila. When the mopping up operations had ended, the Hukbalahap were systematically disarmed and their leaders arrested. However, a big demonstration participated in by numerous American soldiers who felt the arrest of the leaders of their guerrilla comrades in the 83