Communist Insurgency in the Philippines (catch all)

[Kenyatta]

Coming and growing up from the Philippines.

My view on Jose Ma Sison of the NPA was that he was influential during the Marcos dictatorship but I think he had great control of teh NPA during the 70s and 80s but this eroded badly after the 1986 People power revolution. The NPA was basically crippled during the internal purges during the 90s(due to heavy AFP infiltration of its ranks and turning of many of its members to the gov).

Sison himself currently has little to no power over the current NPA and is currently enjoying himself in the Netherlands getting monies and donations from the Dutch gov.

There has always been a schism between the NPA military commanders on the ground and its political admistrative wing.

The NPA currently while very much down is not out. but have been reduced to bandit level.(they supplement their income with criminal activities(kidnapping, extortion, smuugling,drug dealing etc.).

Also , the NPA has always been a haven for criminals on the run, in fact I know of several people who were on the run from the law who joined the NPA to escape capture(many of them returned back to being criminals since they can't hack living in the jungle). Also the relationship between the NPA/AFP/Philippine Gov is interesting. It seems that the Phil Gov is not really interested in completely stamping out the NPA. In the provinces such as Negros, the NPA/AFP/Phil Gov have a cooperative/business relationship that the Phil Gov and local AFP commanders allows the NPA to extort the local pop and recognizes its territory. The NPA has evolved into a criminal organization rather than a grass roots guerilla revolutionary group. Also local AFP commanders make money from bribes, some arms sales etc. to the NPA. This fact is preety much a not too well kept secret but it is quite known and tolerated on the local level.

If you are interested in books on the war in Mindanao in the 70s-Present I highly recomend the following:

Under a Cresecent Moon by Marites Vitug. Gives a broad view on the conflict in Mindanao mostly on the political social aspects of it. Quite balanced.

The Day with Almost Lost Mindanao: The CENTCOM Story. By Former General Francisco Abat. A very nice military view by the commander of the AFP forces in Mindanao at the time on the Mindanao conflict in the early to mid 70s. Chronicles the MNLF offensive and the AFP counteroffensive. The book is quite rare and hard to get even in the Philippines. From what I heard, this book is surprisingly balanced, and gives a matter of fact view on the conflict.

A Mindanao Story by Delfin Castro. Focuses on the whole war with particular focus on the war with the MILF in the 90s.

[Jedburgh]

AWC, 8 Mar 71: The Philippine Constabulary as a Counterinsurgency Force, 1948-1954

The evidence indicates that the Constabulary was an effective counterinsurgency force, however, success came only after political, social, and economic operations were combined with military operations. Although the Philippine Constabulary represents an ideal model for other developing nations faced with an internal defense problem, and although the US Army Military Police School, in conjunction with the CDC Military Police Agency, has the capability to develop appropriate doctrine for this type force; the US Army has generally neglected the Constabulary in its counterinsurgency program.

Complete 82 page paper at the link.

[pinoyme]

Hi Kenyatta:

Nice to see your posts. I respect your views and intelligence.

Nevertheless, I will have to disagree with you that the best form of government for the Philippines today would be similar to Singapore's or the ROK's.

Such a government may work for this country for two or three years. But with media and civil liberties oppressed, many close relatives and cronies of whoever shall be in the Presidential Palace in Malacanang would begin considerig themselves master franchisees of the privilege to plunder the Philippines dry.

This in turn would fuel insurgency and political unrest.

A better alternative would be that similar to Fidel Ramos' presidency.

As for Jose Ma. Sison? He was in detention from 1977 to February 1986.
His influence with the CPP at that time was merely that of a symbol.

The leadership that followed him mostly discarded his precepts in practice even if they paid lip service to them. When they tried applying what he had preached, many times they came to grief.

Cheers.

[Kenyatta]

Pinoyme,

Actually I never commented on my earlier post on the best gov for the Philippines, I just commented on the current state of the NPA which both of us I think are in agreement.

I highly agree with you that the best form of gov for the Philippines is either Singapore or ROK but after 25 years of hoping this(ever since the 1986 People power revolt) and nothing happening. I think this may happen but it will take a long time since the corrupt politicos who are running the gov are mostly the same and all of them are in cahoots with each other.

There is no Park Chung Hee or Lee Kwan Yu strong enough to take over the gov. and reform it.

The way the Philippine gov works is that if the corrupt politicos and officials see a righteous and non corrupt politico or minister in their midst, they will try their utmost to corrupt him or make him part of "team" if they can't then they will unite to bring him down...sad but its real...