David, I actually think the article would fit better in a thread discussing the NPA insurgency, since it relates more directly to that... but of course that's not even directly related to OEF/P, so I'm not sure where such a thread would belong!
Yes, some bias, some inaccuracy, and a great deal of superficiality... essentially a transcription of what might be called the moderate left position, with little evident effort to challenge or refine that position. The conclusions are of course true enough, but don't reveal anything that isn't already known to anyone half looking, and don't offer much of a solution. That's not unusual: the Philippine left invariably has all the right questions and all the wrong answers.
Probably the most glaring misperception, a very common one in observations of the Philippines, is the Manila-centric perspective the article takes, notably toward extrajudicial killings. The left has consistently tried to portray these as a policy of the Manila government, but that's generally inaccurate. Virtually all political violence in the Philippines revolves around local issues and local rivalries. We always hear about election-related violence, but this rarely if ever stems from Presidential or other national elections. Village, municipal, and provincial elections are where the killing happens: this is where the clan rivalries and family feuds kick in, and where the results actually mean something. Manila politics to most Filipinos is analogous to the Tagalog-dubbed Mexican soap operas that proliferate on daytime TV: entertaining, but distant and with little or no impact on day to day life.
Most of the people being killed on the left (the left does its own share of killing, which of course they don't talk about) are no threat at all to the central government, and the killings actually cause the central government more harm than benefit. The equation is reversed at the local level, where feudal bosses routinely connive with local military and police (or simply use their own assets) to remove people they find inconvenient, embarrassing, or simply offensive. The central government lacks the power to crack the whip over its own people, so they do whatever they want, even when that involves killing people they don't like. The areas in which the NPA is strongest are generally those dominated by self-serving political dynasties that are effectively immune to interference from Manila, and the hostility of the populace is generally directed at the local authority. Manila can certainly be faulted for lacking the will (and often the capacity) to rein in its people, but talk of reform needs to be built around the realization that Manila is less abusive than ineffectual, and what needs to be reformed are the local governments.
Looking specifically at the ethnic/sectarian/separatist insurgency in the south, it's important to avoid the trap of seeing the fight as between "the government" and "the populace". It's actually a fight between two populaces (even that is a simplification, but I'm not writing a book here), with the government vacillating between supporting one side and ineffective attempts at mediation. Neither of the populaces involved trusts the government or has much respect for it. The populaces involved have incompatible demands, and efforts to placate one generally enrage the other. This plays into the hands of local warlords, who control their own people with the old "I may be a bastard, but you need me to protect you from the other" routine, and manipulate the central government with their ability to keep a provisional lid on their area and and to deliver the votes - often over 100% of the votes - to their patrons.
What can be done about this? I wrote about that at some length (dated, but main points remain) here:
http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journ...5.4rogers.html
and can provide a .pdf with anyone who has the interest or needs a substitute for valium.
If anyone wonders what the US, or any other outside party, can do about this, I'd say very close to nothing. On the historical side we had some role in the way the problems developed (not the cause, but one among many), but I don't see us having much place in the search for a solution. Like everybody else, the Filipinos are carrying some historical baggage. Like everyone else, the job of setting that baggage aside, deciding where they want to be, and going there is ultimately theirs.
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