Monday, March 2, 2020

Insurgency rooted in inequality, not ideology: Ex-Army official

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 2, 2020): Insurgency rooted in inequality, not ideology: Ex-Army official (By Alexander Lopez)



BACK TO BARRACKS. Retired Col. Alexander Noble (center), together with 402nd Infantry Brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Maurito Licudine (left), and deputy commander, Col. Cerilo C. Baloro Jr. (right), joins the commemoration of the 37th founding anniversary of the Army's 23rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army on Sunday (March 1, 2020) in Barangay Alubihid, Buenavista, Agusan del Norte. Noble believes insurgency is an economic problem that needs to be countered by the unified efforts of all government agencies. (PNA photo by Alexander Lopez)

BUENAVISTA, Agusan del Norte – The longstanding communist insurgency problem in the Philippines is deeply-rooted in economic inequality, not in ideology.

This was raised by retired Col. Alexander Noble in an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Sunday (March 1) at the headquarters of the Army's 23rd Infantry Battalion here.

Noble, one of the invited guests during the unit's 37th-anniversary celebration, served as the battalion's seventh commander from April 10, 1980, to November 1, 1985.

"The insurgency problem and its solution must be entrenched with all-inclusive development interventions that will bring impacts into the lives of ordinary people," Noble said.

He pointed out that the majority of those enticed by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) to join their ranks "are the poor, particularly the indigenous peoples (IPs)".

Train tribal warriors

“It has been observed that almost 80 percent of the NPA members who surrendered in the Caraga Region are IPs,” Noble said, adding that the date only proves that the communist insurgency problem in the country is rooted in economic inequality and not in ideology. “The IPs are not communists. They do not understand communism. They were recruited by the NPA because of poverty."

One of the more effective ways to fight insurgency, according to Noble, is to train the tribal warriors called “Alimaong” to defend their ancestral lands from NPA intrusion.

The former Army official recalled that he once trained members of "Alimaong" when he served the intelligence service of the Army in the hinterlands of Esperanza and Sibagat, Agusan del Sur, in parts of Surigao del Sur, in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental, and in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

“The warriors are an integral part of the tribe. They can effectively defend their territories and communities from the NPA,” he said.

However, this strategy must also be complemented by programs geared at improving the economic standing of the tribe members.

Address economics side

Failure to address the economic side, he said, would render any effort to bring the IP communities on the government side unsustainable.

For instance, Noble said that despite the campaigns and training they provided to the tribal warriors, the NPA still managed to recruit them.

“The tribes were neglected. When the NPA did the recruitment, they (the tribe) were easily swayed and convinced to join the communist movement,” he added.

Noble also recalled the time he was invited to a National Security Council meeting in MalacaƱang during the administration of former president Fidel V. Ramos where the problem of insurgency was discussed.

“I told them that insurgency is not a political or military problem. Insurgency is an economic problem. The NPA recruitment is anchored on the poverty the ordinary people experience,” Noble said.

The former Army official said the government is on the right track when President Rodrigo Duterte introduced the "whole-of-nation" approach to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC).

The new approach, he said, would address the core aspects of the insurgency problem in the country--economic inequality--by mustering the weight of the entire government to develop areas in the countryside that have long been a breeding ground for anti-government sentiments.

"All instrumentalities of the government must contribute and participate in the fight to finally end the insurgency," he said.

The NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1095245

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