Philippines ‘Confused’ in War Vs. Terror, Separatism

Counterinsurgency vs Counter-Terrorism in Mindanao

An MILF fighter in Sultan Kudarat. | Read the ICG’s report here.

Jakarta/Brussels, 14 May 2008: The U.S. and the Philippines need to refocus energies on peace processes in Mindanao or they risk new hostilities between government forces and insurgents.

The Philippines: Counterinsurgency vs. Counter Terrorism,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, warns that U.S.-backed security operations in the southern Philippines are confusing counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism and risk pushing the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) – their target — into the arms of the broader insurgencies in Mindanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

“The ‘Mindanao model’ of combining military operations with civic action operations against the ASG has been widely heralded as a success, but the gains could be short-lived”, says Kit Collier, a consultant for Crisis Group. “The model involves using counterinsurgency techniques for counter-terrorism goals, but the only way the Philippines will effectively manage domestic terrorism is to secure the cooperation of the MILF and MNLF – and that requires concrete progress toward formal peace agreements.”

The urgency of finalizing agreements is even more acute since the Malaysian government announced last month that it was withdrawing from an international monitoring team that has kept the lid on conflict in Mindanao since 2004.

The report urges the Philippines government to revive the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG). Designed to facilitate information-sharing between the Philippines government and the MILF, AHJAG was critical to the prevention of conflict escalation in 2005-2007 as the search for terrorists intensified. After a six-month hiatus, its mandate was formally extended in November 2007 but is not yet fully restored. A similar arrangement should be developed with the MNLF. But the leadership of both insurgencies will only be willing to provide information on terrorists in their midst as part of a political endgame, and the Philippines government is stalling while the U.S. appears more focused on economic aid than political agreements.

“The number of terrorists in the Philippines is small relative to the mass-based insurgencies in which they take cover”, says John Virgoe, Crisis Group’s South East Asia Director. “But the ASG and its allies remain dangerous because of their potential to drag the latter back into war.”