Luis attended primary school at age 8 in a public school in San Miguel, Bulacan. At fifteen, he attended high school in Tarlac City. He attended the University of Manila for two years, studying medicine and law, but no longer able to afford the expenses, returned home without getting a degree to set up a tailor shop with his brother.


As a teen he was inspired by the stories of the Katipuneros who had fought for independence and for agrarian reform against Spain. Certain people within his home village and province came to regard him as the incarnation of the prominent Katipunan leader Felipe Salvador. He was influenced by <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1633/today-in-philippine-history-january-31-1876-pedro-abad-santos-was-born-in-san-fernando-pampanga" class="news_link">Pedro Abad Santos</a>, a Marxist, whom Luis regarded as a true socialist. In 1935, Taruc joined the Filipino Socialist Party led by Abad Santos in 1935.


In 1941, right after the Japanese invasion, Taruc joined the groups of Communist guerrillas operating in central Luzon led by <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1661/today-in-philippine-history-august-26-1930-crisanto-evangelista-announced-the-birth-of-the-partido-komunista-ng-pilipinas" class="news_link">Crisanto Evangelista</a>. After the capture and execution of Evangelista and other prominent guerrilla leaders (January-March 1942), Taruc brought together all these groups of resistance under the name of HUKBALAHAP or Huk. Following a week-long organizing conference, the newly formed Huk organization selected four of their leaders (Castro Alejandrino, Felipa Culala, Bernardo Poblete, and Luis Taruc) to become the Huk Military Committee. The Military Committee was at the apex of Huk structure and was charged to direct the guerrilla campaign and to lead the revolution that would seize power after the war. Luis Taruc was elected to head the committee, and became the first Huk commander, "El Supremo".

June 21, 1913: Luis Taruc was born in Santa Monica, San Luis, Pampanga