According to Secretary Lorenzana’s report, the DND through the Armed Forces of

the Philippines (AFP) and partner agencies have offered social services to
encourage rebels to return to the fold of the government. Over 18,000 former
rebels have been reintegrated into the society since President Rodrigo Roa
Duterte sat in office.

The initiative is known as the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration

Progam (E-CLIP) of the Task Force Balik-Loob.

“Kahit abala sa pademya, ginagampanan ng aming kagawaran ang pangunahin

nitong tungkulin na tiyakin ang seguridad ng bansa mula sa anumang banta sa
labas o loob man nito. Ang diskarte ng ating pamahalaan na labanan ang
insurhensya at lokal na terorismo na hindi gumagamit ng bala o solusyong militar
ay naging matagumpay [Even though we are busy responding to the pandemic,
the department continues to carry out its mandate of ensuring the security of the
country from any form of threat, whether external or internal. The strategy of the
government to fight insurgency and local terorrism which does not resort to a
militaristic approach has been successful],” Secretary Lorenzana said.

“By offering social assistance to rebels who returned to the fold of the law, we
have greatly reduced threats from armed groups, which have been hampering
inclusive economic development and growth for more than 50 years now,” he
added.

Of the 18,433 former rebels that were reintegrated, 623 have joined the AFP, 748
were given resettlement and housing assistance, and 21,549 former rebels and
their dependents have graduated from skills training.

Because of the success, the government also launched the TUGON Program for
former rebels in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Regional in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM).

“Lahat ng rehiyon ay mabibigyan ng pagkakataong umunlad walang iwanan [All

regions will have the opportunity to grow and develop. No one will be left
behind],” Secretary Lorenzana said.

https://pco.gov.ph/news_releases/secretary-andanar-hails-anti-insurgency-
accomplishments-of-security-peace-and-justice-cabinet-cluster/
CEBU CITY – The “Dagyawan sa Barangay”, a strategy toward ending communist armed conflict by
bringing government services closer to the barrio folks, will now be implemented nationwide, the Department
of the Interior and Local Government-Central Visayas (DILG-7) said Thursday.

Lawyer Leocadio Trovela, DILG-7 regional director, said in a statement the strategy conceptualized in Central
Visayas as a way to promote “togetherness” in advocating peace and development down to the village level
has been recognized by the National Peace and Order Council (NPOC) during its 1st quarter meeting last
March 21.

The NPOC issued Resolution No. 7 recognizing the works of the Regional Task Force to End Local
Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) chaired by Trovela for being able to engage the people in
barangays affected by insurgency.

He said the resolution endorses the adoption and nationwide implementation of a series of community town
hall forums comparable to the "Dagyawan sa Barangay".

The Dagyawan is the branding of the DILG-7 projects under the Retooled Community Support Program
(RCSP) with the primary goal of bringing government services right to the doorstep of villagers, especially in
far-flung areas.

True to its promise to bring town hall meetings to the local level, Trovela collaborated with the officials of
Negros Oriental province to launch the first Dagwayan sa Barangay in Dumaguete City in August of 2019.

The activity was the localized version of “Dagyaw 2019: Open Government and Participatory Governance
Regional Townhall Meeting”, a series of government dialogues with the stakeholders at the grassroots level.

“This platform serves as a venue for an active engagement between the government and the people at the
grassroots level. So we can bring the government closer to the minds and hearts of the people in Region 7,”
Trovela said.

Apart from dialogues and fora, officials from NTF-ELCAC also conducts the “Serbisyo caravan” (service
caravan) that provides various services and assistance to village folks.

Since 2019, DILG-7 has spearheaded conducts of Dagyawan sa Barangay in the insurgency-affected villages
through the Basic Services Cluster chaired by the agency, and with the active participation of the provincial
government of Negros Oriental and the Negros Oriental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict
(NOTF-ELCAC) led by Governor Roel Degamo, who is now the Regional Peace and Order (RPOC) chair.

Apart from Dagwayan activities in insurgency-affected villages in Negros Oriental, these townhall-type of
listening tool of the government were also conducted in areas in Bohol and Cebu.

Meanwhile, the DILG-7 reported that 515 ELCAC-related projects worth PHP5.4 billion were endorsed to the
Regional Development Council (RDC), Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC), Regional Task Force 7-
ELCAC, National Task Force-ELCAC, and Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Dagyawan sa Barangay is coined from a Hiligyanon term which means “bayanihan” or togetherness. (PNA)

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170562
Alongside the AFP’s declaration of intensified operations
against the communist insurgents, there have been reports
from the CPP and regional NPA groups of increased aggression
and brutality from the military. Ka Bayani Obrero, the NDF-
Negros spokesperson, stated that the first month of the
“Marcos regime” saw the AFP “intensifying their attacks”
(Negros Revolutionary Portal, August 13, 2022). Likewise,
Juanito Magbanua, the former spokesperson for the Negros
Island Regional Operational Command, wrote about the
“massive military operations to crush the revolutionary forces”
and accused the 303rd Brigade of “horrific killings, illegal
arrests, abductions, torture, threats especially against
suspected families of revolutionaries, the theft of the animals
and the destruction of peasants livelihood” (PRWC, August 3,
2022).

The CPP claims the government is “fighting dirty,” citing Adora

Faye de Vera’s arrest on what the communists allege are
trumped-up criminal charges of murder through the use of
explosives (land mines, specifically) and charges of rebellion,
in another case (PRWC, August 27, 2022; Philstar, August 30,
2022). Adora had once been involved in militancy, decades
ago. Her commitment to the cause has, according to CPP
spokesman Marco Valbuena, since become expressed more
through art, poetry, and women’s rights activism—but not
violence.

The AFP is also targeting high-profile communist insurgents

and claims to have scored some counter-terrorism successes
under the Marcos Jr. presidency. The AFP claims to have made
the province of Davao Occidental “insurgency free,” although
the CPP denies this (PRWC, August 21). More recently, the
Philippine army reportedly interdicted a motorboat carrying
several insurgents, including CPP–NPA–NDF chairman Benito
Tiamzon and his wife Wilma, who is secretary-general of the
same network (Philippine News Agency, August 31, 2022).
Further, on September 3, the AFP killed Vincent Isagani Madlos
and his wife Angie Polandres Salinas, with the former being
the son of legendary NPA leader Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos
(MindaNews, September 5, 2022). The CPP—like in other
cases, such as that of Tiamzon and his wife Wilma—denies the
AFP’s recounting of events. It also accuses the 8th Infantry
Battalion and the 4th Infantry Division of capturing Madlos and
Salinas unarmed and then executing them while they were
detained (PRWC, September 5, 2022).

Marcos Presidency Reinvigorates Communist Insurgency in the Philippines

Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 21 Issue: 7

By: Lucas Webber

https://jamestown.org/program/marcos-presidency-reinvigorates-communist-insurgency-
in-the-philippines/

American strategy effectively targeted both the insurgents’strategic and operational

centers of gravity. The oft-repeated observation of Mao Zedong, arguably the most
successful insurgent leader of the 20th century, bears repeating: “The people are the
sea in which the insurgent fish swims and draws strength.” The American pacification
program targeted the sea in which the insurgents swam. It lowered the water level until
the sea became hundreds of lakes. As American garrisons drained the local lakes, the
insurgent fish became easier to isolate and catch. When the insurgents were unable to
sustain a formidable force in the field, confidence in victory—and hence unified
opposition—withered. The elements of power America employed in the Philippines were
diplomatic, legal, informational, military, and economic. These instruments were
adapted to local conditions, sometimes without the permission of the Office of the
Military Governor. While there is some discretion as to the category under which an
activity should be discussed (for example, the United States concluded an agreement
with the Vatican that exercised both diplomacy and economic power), the aggregate
effect shows the United States successfully employed its power to target the Filipino
centers of gravity. After the role of the original Philippine Commission was complete,
McKinley appointed a second Philippine Commission under William Howard Taft which
arrived in June 1900. The presidential charter to this body was to transition the
Philippines from military to civilian rule. As implemented, the policy transferred control of
each province from the jurisdiction of the Office of the Military Governor to the
commission once the province was pacified. When MacArthur departed command in
July 1901, all administrative responsibility was transferred to the commission, with
Brigadier General Adna Chaffee taking command of the army. Taft added Filipino
members to the commission. 58 Parameters He also organized local governments so
the elected Filipino officials were under close American supervision.15

https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2237&context=parameters

Lessons from a Successful Counterinsurgency: The Philippines,

1899-1902

Thomas K. Deady
Section 1. The PNP is hereby directed to support the AFP in internal security operations
(ISO) for the suppression of insurgency and other serious threats to national security.
For this purpose, the PNP is authorized to make appropriate adjustments in its
organization subject to the approval of the National Police Commission. Sec. 2. There
shall be established a joint AFP-PNP system which shall provide the mechanism,
structure and procedures for the integrated assessment of the security situation and for
the integrated planning, coordinating, implementation and monitoring of necessary
measures aimed at enhancing the internal security of the state and its institutions. Sec.
3. The Department of National Defense and the Department of the Interior and Local
Government shall jointly promulgate rules and regulations for the effective
implementation of this Executive Order. Sec. 4. The initial funding requirements of the
PNP to carry out the provisions of this Executive Order shall be jointly determined and
recommended by the PNP and AFP for the approval of the President. The amount shall
be drawn from the Contingent Fund and from other available funds in the CY 1998 and
1999 General Appropriations Act. For the succeeding years, the amount required shall
be incorporated in the budget of PNP and the annual General Appropriations Act.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 110 - DIRECTING THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE TO

SUPPORT THE ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES IN INTERNAL SECURITY
OPERATIONS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF INSURGENCY AND OTHER SERIOUS
THREATS TO NATIONAL SECURITY

https://www.vertic.org/media/National%20Legislation/Philippines/
PH_National_Police_Order_110.pdf
Armed conflict has ceased to be a regular fare for the poor people of Bondoc Peninsula,
once a hotbed of insurgency, in Quezon Province. There’s reason for insurgency to
have made its mark in the rich fertile farms simply because nearly half of its people
remained poor and trapped in vulnerable forms of employment and land tenure
insecurity. Some 80 per cent of its people relied on subsistence farming for survival.
Hand-to-mouth existence is common with people forced to accept whatever work is
available just to survive.

The cycle of poverty, lack of decent work and conflict kept development at bay. It was in
2010 when an “Inter-agency programme to Nurture Peace, Security, and Decent Work
in conflict areas of the Philippines” begun with the International Labour Organization
and Food and Agriculture Organization. The Japanese government provided funds and
was coursed through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security, which later
partnered with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process .

The project was conceived to help address the roots of insurgency in the area, foremost
of which is poverty and lack of decent work. The provision of health and education,
knowledge of basic human rights and the reduction of poverty are some requirements to
achieve human security. The project was implemented to complement the efforts of
both local and national governments to bring sustainable peace and development in
Bondoc Peninsula.

ILO and FAO did consensus building, participatory decision-making and opening
channels for dialogue among different economic and social partners which made the
Local Economic Development (LED) approach effective to ensure a new round of local
economic development for the towns of Unisan, Catanauan, San Narciso and Mulanay
– all mute witnesses to violent armed conflict.

“In post-conflict areas, the effects are more pronounced at the local level. More often, it
is the poorest members of society, their families and loved-ones who bear the brunt of
economic burden of conflict,” said Director Lawrence Jeff Johnson of the ILO Country
Office for the Philippines. He added while the Bondoc-LED addresses the root causes
of conflict, much more needs to be done to ensure sustained and inclusive growth.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process provided the necessary
tools to objectively assess the needs of the community.

“Within three years, the programme was able to help bring about positive changes
among vulnerable groups and communities in Bondoc Peninsula,” Director Eileen A.
Jose of the OPAPP said.

https://www.ilo.org/manila/public/newsitems/WCMS_215435/lang--en/index.htm

Effectively undertake localized peace engagements through community consultations

and problemsolving sessions, and local peace dialogues with local insurgent groups.
The Lakbay ng Kapayapaan Roadmap for Peace and Development6 will be
mainstreamed as the primary mechanism to support localized peace dialogues in
communities based on mutual confidence and trust. In connection to this, the
government will prioritize the enhancement of capacities of local chief executives and
the strengthening of the role of local government units (LGUs) in carrying out peace
dialogues, and the complementation and convergence of socioeconomic packages to
communities and individual former rebels and their families. While the current pandemic
calls for alternative mechanisms in carrying out engagement activities with communities,
face-to-face interactions will still be undertaken especially in local community dialogues,
consultations, and problem-solving sessions, albeit in strict compliance with public
health standards and protocols. Face-to-face interactions are important in building and
rebuilding confidence with the communities especially in providing a safe democratic
space for communities to raise issues and concerns that are at the root of, resulting
from, or further aggravating the armed conflict. It also provides a platform for
constructive engagement among the community, the government, and other
stakeholders, and provides opportunities for strengthening capacities for peace.
Alternative mechanisms such as the use of digital platforms will be utilized only when
necessary and feasible.

https://pdp.neda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Updated-PDP-2017-2022-
Chapter-17-20201207-v1.pdf