XII. Assassination On the morning of April 28, 1949, Quezon left her home to travel to her husband's hometown of Baler to open the Quezon Memorial Hospital. She had been cautioned about this trip beforehand due to the frequent insurgency activities in Central Luzon of the Hukbalahap, the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines. She shrugged off the threat, remarking on the morning of the trip, "[Hukbalahap Supremo] Taruc knows my white hair and he will not hurt me." Nonetheless, a convoy of thirteen vehicles, including two military jeeps full of armed soldiers, accompanied Quezon. Together with Quezon in her Buick sedan were her daughter "Baby", then a law student at the University of Santo Tomas, her son-in-law Felipe "Philip" Buencamino (husband of "Nini"), Quezon City mayor Ponciano Bernardo and retired Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Rafael Jalandoni. They traveled along the Baler–Bongabon Road connecting Baler with Nueva Ecija, which Quezon herself inaugurated in 1940. At Quezon's request, her vehicle led the caravan, and it soon sped away from the military jeep immediately behind it. As Quezon's vehicle traversed the mountain road, it was blocked by a group of armed men. The men ignored the protestations from General Jalandoni and Mayor Bernardo that Quezon was in the vehicle, and machine-gun fire erupted from the side of the road and from the mountain slopes. It was later estimated that between 100 and 200 armed men had participated in the attack. Mrs. Quezon, her daughter, and Bernardo were killed instantly, while her son-in-law was mortally wounded. The soldiers in the convoy soon arrived at the scene and exchanged fire with the assailants, who were able to seize the valuables of the victims before fleeing the scene. In all, twelve members of the Quezon party and ten of the assailants were killed. There was national and international condemnation of the massacre. United States President Harry Truman was shocked and simply declared, "It was awful." A nine-day national mourning period was declared, and President Elpidio Quirino openly wept during the funeral. Quezon was buried at Manila North Cemetery. The mourners included her two surviving children, Manuel Jr. and Nini, who herself was widowed by the massacre. While no Philippine president has ever been assassinated, Aurora Quezon is one of three presidential spouses to have been murdered. (The other two were Alicia Syquia-Quirino and Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., both of