Countering Internal Threats

Throughout the beginning of the 21 st century the Philippines has faced a change in the history of its security relations with the United States of America(US),its historical ally,due to the increase of the internal security threats in the former country.This problem had made the Philippines mobilize and change its domestic and foreign policy in order to counter the internal threats.The relations between the US and the Republic of the Philippines(RP)relations date from long ago,since the Philippine War against Spain(the former colonizer of the country),which had the US help in this conflict.However,instead of supporting the Philippine independence after the war,the US became the new colonizer.Only after almost five decades as a US colony,the Philippines was granted independence in 1946.Nevertheless,its close relationship with the US did not end.After the independence the US and the RP signed three major treaties that would establish their future relations: the Military Bases Agreement(MBA),in 1947,which conceded US military permanent presence in two major bases – Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Bay-in the RP,the Military Assistance Program(MAP),in 1947,and most important one,the Mutual Defense Treaty(MDT),in 1951,which declared that both would defend and support each other in case of an external threat.As such,these treaties established how their security partnership should be built and sustained during the following years.The US permanent presence in the RP advocated by these treaties lasted until the end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union(USSR),when the international politics faced a big shift,affecting the RP-US security relations.Due to several reasons that go from the end of the Cold War to internal pressure inside the Philippines,in 1991 the Philippine Senate finally voted against the renewal of the military bases treaty,making the US to withdraw its bases from the country,which cooled the relations between the two countries throughout the decade.It is important to mention that the withdrawal of the US bases from the RP had an impact on the Armed Forces of the Philippines(AFP),which was no longer financed by the US,increasing the problems of its already ill-equipped and underdeveloped institution.Once the US was gone,the Government of the RP(GRP)decided to invest in the development of its armed forces,focusing on external threats rather than internal ones that used to be the main focus.Despite the efforts,these changes did not work out as planned by several reasons,leaving the AFP still restrained to focus its operations on the internal threats of the country.Due to that,in 1998 the Visiting Forces Agreement(VFA)between the US and the RP was signed as an attempt to start a military reengagement with of the RP with the US that has been dormant since the removal of the bases,by promoting once again joint military exercises.Although the VFA was a sign that the RP-US security relations was enhancing once again,it can be said that the real change would come later,in the beginning of the 21 st century.Before discussing this issue,it is important to understand the internal reasons that led the Philippines to restate its security partnership with the US in 2001.Since its independence as a sovereign country,the RP has suffered huge internal threats by insurgent groups that are contrary to the government.These groups have different political interests,and they include those who defend a communist-led state,and those who do not see themselves as Filipinos and aim to have the southern region(the Mindanao region)separated from the rest of the country.The latter group has political interests that are originated from its culture,religion and history.In general,these groups can be divided into two categories:(1)the communist insurgents led by the CPP-NPA-NDF,which was created by the union on some communist groups from early and mid-20 th century,and it is considered nowadays as the longest active communist insurgent group in the world;and(2)the Muslim Separatist groups from the south of the RP,which are mainly consisted by the Moro National Liberation Front(MNLF),the Moro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF)and,controversially,by the Abu Sayyaf Group(ASG).The former two groups are breakaway factions from the MNLF but,although the ASG started as a breakaway group,it is debatable whether throughout its history it has shifted from a political separatist organization which exercised terrorism as a mean to achieve its goals,to a simple criminal organization that is more focused on kidnapping-for-ransom as a way of self-funding.It is important to state that the ASG,since its foundation,has been considered a terrorist organization for its attacks and for the fact that they were directly linked to international terrorist organizations,such as the Al-Qaeda(AQ)and the Jemaah Islamiyah(JI).Anyhow,all these armed groups have always brought instability to the Philippines as a whole,restraining development as a unified country and even restraining its armed forces from seeking development towards external security threats(1).Although the AFP was never able to terminate with the threats generated by these groups,the GRP has always strived to achieve peace agreements and cease-fire with them,mostly with the MNLF and the MILF.Nevertheless,these agreements have not lasted long due to the lack of consent between the Muslims and the GRP,which has fueled the internal conflicts more and more.As already mentioned,these armed groups have posed a threat to the Philippines,and during the end of the 90's the internal security problems of the country started to increase.Three main causes can explain that.First,there was a growth in the number of recruits of the CPP-NPA and also in its possessions of arms,which concerned the government.Second,during Estrada's administration(1998-2001),the GRP tried but failed to negotiate with the MILF,and as a result the government launched the “all-out war” against this group,bringing back the armed clashes between the AFP and the MILF.Third,the terrorist group ASG intensified its kidnap-for-ransom activities in beach resorts,focusing on international tourists.In this scenario,President Estrada was impeached in 2001 due to corruption charges,leaving this internal security situation to his then Vice-President,Gloria Macapagal Arroyo(1).As an attempt to settle down the internal security turmoil caused by Estrada with the MILF,Arroyo resumed peace talks with the group(2),but the negotiations were spoiled by the result of a Senate Bill about the augmentation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao,which did not bring the expected positive results to the Muslims,causing once again another discontent and a following turmoil by an MNLF's breakaway group(3)that declared war in Manila.Within this situation,the internal security of the country became a priority in Arroyo's government that,since the beginning,mobilized its political resources to counter the existing threats.Notwithstanding,the AFP itself did not have the resources to deal with all of the internal threats,and an external support would be more than welcome.The support that the US used to give to the Philippines through the joint military exercises(4)was no longer enough.Meanwhile,the Bush administration launched the “Global War on Terror”(GWOT)in response to the 9/11 attacks,summoning the countries to voluntarily support the cause against terrorism.This was referred to as “Coalition of the willing”,in which the Philippines was one of the first countries to show full support,opening new doors for the RP-US security relations.The participation of the Philippines in the GWOT created a new mutual cooperation between both countries: the Philippines gave the US total support(1),and in return the US would assist the Philippines to combat their internal security threats.The aim of the present paper is to analyze how the internal threat in the Philippines,which have been incited by armed groups,called here as non-state actors(NSAs),have affected the foreign policy of the country towards the US in order to receive back the assistance needed to counter the NSAs(2).The RP changed its foreign policy towards the US,opening territorial space,allowing troops to come in for assistance and,later on,even sending Filipino troops to the Iraq War.Thus,the increase of the threats inside the Philippines created such an unstable environment for the country that it became a priority concern for the GRP at the time,making it even change its Foreign Policy as an attempt to relieve the country from the struggle.To conclude,we shall state that: the RP has always had trouble with these NSAs that poses a threat,but at this point in time – most precisely in the beginning of Arroyo's first mandate-the situation had increased to an extent that the GRP realized that they could not counter them with only their own resources;plus,if the internal situation was not as critic as it was,the Philippines may not have shifted its Foreign Policy towards the US-once the RP-US relations are a complicate matter that brings controversy,especially to the Filipino people.