You are right on the stale ideology within the CPP as well, but that is a given considering the human AND ideological cost of the Great Rectification. While Joma was sitting in stir the movement was increasing exponentially and since he'd kept such a tight leash on things the party had stayed within very narrow parameters. With him away things got nice and loose. EDSA comes along, unleashes Joma and lo and behold there is a very real schism in all 3 Komisyons (Manila-Rizal in Luzon, Negros in Visayas and West Central in Mindanao). Ergo the rebound with the deep humam cost, using the "DPA" myth as his raison d'etre for the mass purge (actually purges). Not only is Joma on his game now in terms of ideological control, the veterans still remember their comrades being executed with tree limbs to the head. They also used the schism in other ways, still hunting the RJs. Anyway, it is to be expected with people who still persist with 19th Century Chinese terminology, "Semi-Feudal," haha, like people are binding feet and smoking opium.

On the IS not changing despite the name...PDTs in the context of AFP utilisation are simply a guise for the same old game. In fact, they are ratcheting it up a bit. The first thing a PDT does is survey a sitio, taking a complete demographical census. Intel is Intel even when you claim it is for a Needs Assesment and as unsophisticated as many of the targeted communities are they easily see through the charade. If you are still wrapping their heads in packing tape or Waterboarding them it really doesn't matter if you smile and address them as "Sir."

An Autonomous Region in NE Mindanao. First, it will never happen because Caraga is the #1 Timber Region. In addition it is extremely rich in mineral wealth with the largest variety of exploitable minerals. South Cotabato, Zamboanga and ComVal might have produced more gold historically (and when Tampakan takes off, and it will, S.Cotabato will be the nation's richest gold producer), but Caraga pumps out every mineral worth extracting. The government would never let that out of their hands. And yet Caragan Autonomy isn't a new idea; In the 1960s and early 70s there was the push for Northern Mindanowan independence centered in the Cagayan del Oro/Iligan City corridor. The 1980s saw that same region give birth the the CMLO, Christian Mindanao Librtation Organization [sic], then the Teduray-Bisaya group that was little more than Re-formed Ilaga but who claimed to desire a Federalised island with Moro, Lumad and Bisaya all having their own fully autonomous zones (that group being the one that lasted until the mid-90s and had run around Metro-Manila planting IEDs that had practically no payload). Col.Noble in 1989 (AFP COIN Specialist who was training Higaon-on into a COIN paramilitary but was himself seduced by the local environment and went "native" before stirming out of the jungle and leading a coup attempt against Manila, directing it from Caraga), and today BULIF but they seem to be losing steam.

All saw Caraga autonomous, though in different contexts.

Yes, your region, Cordillera is a great example of the wind being takren out of an insurgency when the political objectives are partially met. If a group has no real ethnic narrative, like the "Moros." A group that exists only in the mind of fantasists, a stab at autonomy works wonders. Look at Misuari in 1996 and then in 2000. In 96 he was iconic, could easily bring 20,000 Regulars to the field . Then he is handed ARMM and within 3.5 years he becomes a man who barely rates 3 lines 2 or 3 times a year. So, if I was ever king for a day? I would give the CPP a couple of provinces with a set time limit for full implementation of their Socio-Economic Platform, in exchange for majority disarmament as was the case with the MNLF and the Integration Package though with very different parameters. Time and space being what they are I will leave them unsaid.

I think it would be highly effective in marginalising the NPA in its most active theater.

"Cordillera Pacification"...But of course and that is my main point. Remove the impetus. You say "Kandi," in Baguio? If so I am suprised because, well you have a decent head on your shoulders. It would be rare, all things considered (no offence to the PMA but it is too wound up with Batch nonsense and into politicking and clique building). Though I do speak Bisaya I am not Pinoy hahaha, but in your defence it is a mistake often made. Its my work, though I love the island.

On the Cordillera and Igorot Control...Yes it is very different in that sense. It is the only 1 of the 3 major Hill Tribe Regions where the Indigenous are empowered. Palawan is a travesty (being #2). Here in Mindanao there is a modicum of individual empowerment but by and large they are the lowest rung on every ladder. BULIF (Bungkatol Liberation Front, a Higaon-on Tribal paramilitary now sublimated to 4ID under Oplan Alsa Lumad (ISP-IP, which of course hasn't changed despite the supposed ISP metamorphis from Tactical to CMO) was a step in that direction but they were neutered when they allowed their own sublimation to the AFP. BULIF being the group that used to kidnap DENR and CENRO personnel over timber issues but now kidnaps grammar sschool tudents (re the latest Agusan del Sur hostage crisis last week, etc).

Mining...I guess, to that end I need only say "Tampakan" and "TVIRDP." The former being the afore mentioned gold (and silver) project that is currently on the table that envisions an open pit spanning parts of 4 provinces. It will be the largest for the Philippines and the 2nd largest in the world. LGU opposition is stiff but in the end Manila will get its way (what a travesty). The latter is the Makati-registered branch of a Canadian Mining corporation (TVI, well actually TVIRDP is a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of TVI but you get the point). This company has the largest amount of land under permit of any other single mining corporation. The "Divide and Rule" game is alive and well and I have not seen a single multi-national that hasn't ripped a tribe or 2 apart. One the largest engines here is Development Aggression. The conundrum of Peace and Order, Investment, Exploitation and Prosperity is a vertiable Gordian Knot. They want to pacify the island so that it can be developed and exploited ("exploited" in the neutral sense and not the negative, as in exploitation of resources ,not people). However, their drive to develop is 1 of the most effective engines driving th various insurgencies so...

That segues directly into your point about the AFP getting in bed with the local power base. I don't know how familiar you are with the CAAs, CAFGU, CVO, etc (the unique form in Sulu escapes my memoury at the moment). There is a particular element, the SCAA (Special Citizens Active Auxiliary) that is dedicated to business interests. They aren't utilised much outside of the South. They are directly funded by a specific business. For example, a timber company pays the AFP a significant amount of money, the AFP then forms a local detachment, trains and arms them with the cost, including soldiers' pay, stipends, bonuses and benefits coming from the businessmen. These local men dictate even up to the tactical level. How can the military NOT lie in bed with the local power base then? Even more so now that there is a moratorium on CVO formation (the CAA sublimated to the PNP), thanks to the Ampatuan CVO(s) handiwork in 2009. Municipalities are now forming SCAAs in the place of those CVOs. SCAA's, which were never designed for this utilisation, thus bring the LGU and local AFP detachment into a partnership and this is extremely problematic given the volatile nature of Mindanowan politics.