THE Philippines’ national security problems are multi-faceted and old, some going as far back as the 1930s in the case of the Muslim rebellion, and the 1960s in the case of the communist insurgency. Another headache that often deteriorates to the level of “national security” is the presence of private armed groups which are mostly maintained by local political leaders and warlords.
Both the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are at the forefront of the fight against terrorists of various hues and designs, persuasions and advocacies. Their common objective is to establish their own rule in parts of the Philippine archipelago, and in the case of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), in the whole of the nation.
‘Deaths and injuries in the MSU bombing and the Munai encounters will be repeated in the future until the government finally resolves this faith-based violence.’
Recent machinations by the CPP-New People’s Army elements in the legal left, the church, academe, media, civil society, judiciary, Congress and the Executive Department have tried to salvage what is left of the erstwhile strong leftist movement. It is good that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict implements barangay-based livelihood and other community projects in the countryside, especially those recently freed from NPA control or influence.
Like the fight against the communist groups, the war against Muslim jihadists who are affiliated with international terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State continues without letup. In the Philippines, the most active are members of the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute, the group identified by security forces as the perpetrators of the tragic bombing of the Mindanao State University gymnasium while a Catholic mass was ongoing. The Dec. 3, 2023 attack by the Islamist bombers killed four persons and injured at least 70 others.
Two consecutive incidents that occurred in a span of three days last week proved that the Islamist cause and its violent, hateful methods are still very much with us, despite all legal moves the government has taken to push the peace process in Muslim-dominated areas of the country. These are the arrest of Myrna A. Mabanza, 32, a US specially designated global terrorist and included in the sanctions of the United Nations Security Council against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Qaeda. Her arrest was followed by an encounter by the military with the fighters of the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group (DI-MG) in Munai, Lanao del Norte on February 18. In this clash, six soldiers died and four others were wounded, while three terrorists were confirmed dead and several others were hurt.
While AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner extended his sincerest condolences to the families of the slain soldiers, offered the AFP’s support “in this very trying time,” and assured the wounded soldiers they would receive the best treatment possible for their injuries, these words and promise of assistance might be unable to fully assuage the grief felt by the dead soldiers’ families.
Deaths and injuries in the MSU bombing and the Munai encounters will be repeated in the future until the government finally resolves this faith-based violence. Brawner said “our troops are motivated to finish the job and accomplish our mission of defeating local terrorist groups once and for all,” and we can only hope that he and his successors in the future will notch success.
