Ice Cream Every Day

Since he took office last September, 41-year-old Secretary of Defense Ramon Magsaysay has realized that pacifying Luzon's 15,000 Communist Huk rebels is more than a military problem. The Huk rank & file--and most Huk sympathizers--are poor, landless peasants, led into rebellion by Communist promises of Utopia. Magsaysay has come to believe that a little government help and a few acres of land would transform Huk guerrillas into peaceful citizens.

Last month he announced a plan for doing this. With 4,000,000 pesos of government aid, Magsaysay started a land resettlement project in the fertile but undeveloped plains of Mindanao. Instead of jail sentences, each Huk who is captured or gives up will get ten hectares (25 acres) of this land, plus a house, tools and work animals. "Here is a good way to give those boys in the mountains something to come down for."

Civilian Filipinos were enthusiastic about the idea. So were many Huks. In the last six weeks, since word of Magsay-say's plan spread into Luzon's hills, 500 Huks have surrendered and applied for resettlement. Three hundred hectares of flat, virgin land in Mindanao have been cleared for the first batch of Huk settlers, who will leave Luzon within the next few months. More are expected. "We keep hammering at them," said Magsaysay, "and looking for them in the jungles, and promising them this green valley where they can have their own homes and live happily with hot coffee and ice cream every day."

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