Although the advocacy is young, peace building is gaining ground among officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), especially in Mindanao.

Most of the believers are those tired of the usual brute force applied on the “enemy,” but have yet to see its progress in quelling the communist insurgency and the Muslim secessionist movement after 40 years of this tactic.

“We have overrun enemy camps and seized firearms and ammunitions, but the problem keeps on sprouting back,” complains Col. Julieto Ando, civil military operations officer at the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom).

“If we keep on fighting like this using the same methods and expecting to win the war, we must be fools,” says Lt. Col. Pablo Lorenzo, whose tour of duty as a battalion commander includes Sulu, Zamboanga del Sur and Lanao. He is now one of the battalion commanders of the Presidential Security Group in Malacañang.

Winning the peace

For Col. Nicanor Dolojan, commander of the 403rd Infantry “Peacemakers” Brigade based in Bukidnon, “the end goal is to win the peace, not to win the war.”

These officers and others of the same mindset acknowledge the fact that in the case of the Philippine military, it is fighting a war from within its borders and among its people. The AFP is not an “invading army” conquering another country in distant lands. It is not even an army defending a country from foreign invaders.

“Maybe if we’re fighting other countries, by all means we should employ full military combat tactics,” says Col. Casiano Monilla, in charge of operations at EastMinCom. “But we’re dealing with  our fellow countrymen, people who have gone astray, or who have been used by others for their selfish ends, or those with legitimate demands who got frustrated with government,” he adds. These combat-tested officers who have seen action in the most dangerous places in the country – in Marag Valley or in Abra up north, in Sulu, Basilan or Maguindanao in the south – suggest that the AFP has yet to look into more effective ways to fight insurgents while at the same time protecting ordinary people in the communities.

Maj. Krishnamurti Mortela, commandant of the 10th Division Training Unit, examined in his thesis for his master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California the counterinsurgency success stories in Basilan, Sulu and Bohol. His conclusion: pushing good governance, wherein the government is “obligated to provide basic needs [like] security, infrastructure, rule of law, and economic opportunity” is often the quicker way to defeat insurgency rather than the application of “heavy handed retaliation” with strictly military approach “involving ground offensives and aerial bombing.”   

Often, when soldiers are fielded to insurgency-ridden areas, it not only means for them to fight a war but also to establish a semblance of government presence, as these communities would often be those that suffer from the abdication of local governance. Officials of the local government units and those of the national agencies are just nowhere  to be found. The delivery of basic services in these communities is more likely to have been neglected for a long time.

Getting there, the soldiers have no choice but to enact the role of the civilian government: restore order and address the basic needs of the people.

By training, however, soldiers are equipped for warfare. They are not trained to perform civilian governance work, or even just to deal with civilian concerns on a day-to-day basis.

Col. Benito de Leon, of the 104^th Infantry Brigade in Lanao del Norte, notes that the military’s traditional role as combatants is not enough these days.

"Our soldiers need to be multi-skilled with skills like community organizing and mediating conflicts. Unfortunately, we don’t have this kind of training.”

Outside help needed

As Balay Mindanaw’s Kaloy Manlupig stressed, the military would have difficulty transforming itself on its own, using its own mindset.  It needs outside help.

It helped that Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, then a colonel in Basilan, traveled all the way to Davao to attend a course on peace building at the Mindanao Peace Institute, to the shocked surprise of the lecturers and classmates who were generally either peace builders or activists.

He found the course useful for the military’s needs, and so he encouraged other officers to do the same, humbling themselves in the process but gaining valuable insights as to how to help transform the military in winning the people’s hearts and minds.

Col. Pedro S. Soria II, then commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade in Carmen, North Cotabato, also attended an MPI training. He remembers that, “Right there and then, people would recount their sad experiences with the military, the emotional scars that have been inflicted on their persons as a result of the long years of conflict that we have been going through as a people.”

He and the two junior officers with him – Col. Herminigildo Aquino of the 6IB and Col. Paul Atal of 75IB – could have immediately argued to death the military’s case. Instead, they opted to keep silent and listen. When given their turn, they clarified the issues one by one.

By the end of the course, they had befriended their distrustful classmates, reshaping their view towards the military.

There they discovered that dialogue – keeping communication lines open – could resolve a lot of issues between the military and the people they are sworn to protect.

Innovative way of handling crisis

Soria was also in the middle of attending the peace course when a crisis erupted in his area of responsibility – a German national and his three Filipino companions were kidnapped in Pikit,

North Cotabato. Instead of pursuing the usual military approach of sending in a large number of troops to run after the kidnappers, he and his men instead contacted other stakeholders in the area – the police, local government officials, peace negotiators, even the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The victims were freed six hours later.

“At that point, I fully realized the importance of innovative approaches to solve conflicts,” he noted.

Soria was so convinced of the need for soldiers to undergo peace building and conflict management workshop that, upon returning to camp, he immediately reechoed what he had learned to his men. Furthermore, he sent a number of his men to attend Balay Mindanaw’s Operation Peace Course.

Monilla, too, acknowledges the need for the soldiers to be trained on peace building and conflict management to change the soldiers’ attitude towards civilians. Because for him, recalling his experience as a young lieutenant in the NPA-infested areas of Abra in Luzon and as battalion commander in the land of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, there is a surefire formula to gain the people’s trust – “Maging tao ka lang, respetuhin mo ang iba.” (“Just be a human being, respect others.”)

Military abuse a greater problem

In fact, he views communism as less of a threat to the AFP than the abuses committed by soldiers. “It’s so sad that some soldiers think they are powerful because of their guns,” he stresses. “If there’s anything I hate, it’s abusive soldiers preying on hapless civilians,”

Monilla adds.

What he did in Quezon and in Basilan was to organize his men such that one group is assigned to a particular village to help the people there. “They got to know the people well. And once you know the people, you would not likely commit abuses against them.”
In Basilan, under Ferrer’s command, he helped organize the conduct of peacebuilding seminars.

These trainings were directed not only to the soldiers in the unit but even included the Civilian Armed Auxiliaries (CAAs, or members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit).
Monilla sadly recalls the scene of children in Basilan aiming their toy guns at soldiers, as if in ambush formation. “At such a young age, they already treat us as enemies,” he recalls. But change did happen in Basilan. “Later, the smiling children would now wave their hands at us,” he adds.

Discipline

The officers notice also that extensive knowledge on peace building and conflict management usually leads to better discipline among soldiers.

This is especially so because some soldiers, in the words of Ando, still have “jet lag” after martial law, still think that they can wield their power over civilians because of their uniforms and their guns. That’s why he is hoping that  every soldier, especially those in the most far-flung areas, would undergo the peacebuilding course.

"When a private commits one mistake in the farthest barangay, word spreads fast. It even gains international attention, destroying the reputation of the AFP and the government,” observes Mortela. He thus advises soldiers that those conducting operations in the field should take precautions to avoid committing acts that could be interpreted as abuse or disrespect. Such caution may be as simple as to consciously avoid stepping on the farmers’ crops.

Difficulties

While more and more soldiers have been convinced of the peace building approach, trekking the path is not always easy.

“Others are worried our men on the ground may no longer fight with as much resolve,” said Ando. But he said it is not so. “On the contrary, if you know that what you’re fighting for is right, you go all the way,” he says, pointing out that soldiers who have undergone peacebuilding and conflict management seminars are more equipped in terms of analyzing conflicts.

Ferrer, the acknowledged “peace champion,” shares that it is sometimes tiring and discouraging to find that many of his colleagues do not appreciate his efforts.
While Ferrer and Monilla, as a team, enjoyed doing peace building together while at 103Bde in Basilan and in their early days at the 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division, they find it difficult now at EastMinCom, which oversees operations of all three branches of the Armed Forces – the Army, Navy and Air Force – in the eastern half of Mindanao.

“We work our way through the chain of command, but people in the field have their own mindsets and prefer to do what they want to do,” Ferrer laments.
He adds that when civilians applaud soldiers for their peacebuilding work,  “other officers believe you’re just after the ‘pogi points’.” Because peace building is not a traditional military function, its practitioners are sometimes suspected of insincerity.

Peace builders in the military are hoping that the parameters used in the promotion will be changed, from the usual “body count and firearms recovered” mentality to something involving how their respective areas of operations have improved.

“We may have killed so many rebels, recovered so much firearms. But has peace and order come to the place? Has development set in?” Ferrer asks.

“If there is still so much poverty in the area, then we haven’t done our job well,” he opines.

Ferrer suggests that they should look at the “parameters of success”  being used by development agencies.

“Like the USAID, when it sees a Jollibee outlet in the area, or when more plantations have sprouted, then the place must be doing okay,” he points out.

Noting that other developing countries are now increasingly tapping their military organizations for nation building, De Leon problematizes other parameters to gauge how successfully the military has accomplished its mission in its area of responsibility.

One morning last October, he scribbled on a white board at the receiving area of his quarters in Iligan City a checklist of “nation building parameters.” Included in the list are civilian-related tasks where his unit could be of help – poverty alleviation, security and crime prevention, agrarian reform, social injustice, governance, and rural infrastructure.

Institutionalizing peacebuilding

Yet another problem haunting military peace builders is the fact that in the Armed Forces, one cannot stay in an assignment too long. Soldiers are subject to transfer of assignment at a moment’s notice. Or they get promoted to handle bigger tasks. This often means having to leave. This poses a problem with sustaining the gains of peacebuilding initiatives, especially when those who come after do not have any idea what peace building is.

Ferrer, however, is optimistic that peacebuilding efforts would not go to waste. He says, “We are hoping that they carry on the advocacy.”

It is hoped that their effectiveness at achieving the objectives of the military organization would be due cause for future commanders to be converted to these innovative ways.

But they are one in saying that the permanent solution is to institutionalize peace building into the systems and operations of the military organization for the next generations of soldiers to continue to pursue the peacebuilding approach.

“The AFP should include peacebuilding courses in its trainings, and to allocate budget for this,” says Mortela. He hopes that this will eventually be part of the curriculum at the Philippine Military Academy where future AFP officers are trained.

Lorenzo suggests that priority  should be given more to soldiers on the ground because they already have the “laboratory” with which to practice their newly acquired peace building skills.

But for Ferrer, it should be more than just a policy statement, more than just institutionalizing peace building in the AFP. “We should work on this so that this becomes an advocacy,” he says.

AFP receptive to peace building

There just might be a reason for Ferrer’s bullish optimism. There are signs that the AFP is receptive to accommodate peace building into the habitual functions of the various units.

Since August 2006, several meetings were held by some Mindanao troop commanders and senior officers to discuss military policies and doctrines towards institutionalizing peace building in the AFP. Their recommendations include the need for value formation in military leadership, elements of proposed AFP peace education, and strategies for mainstreaming peace building in the AFP organization, as well as the need to popularize peace precepts through advocacy and publications.

On 20 August 2009, the commandants of the military training institutions joined staff officers of the AFP and the Philippine Army and representatives of various divisions of the Eastern Mindanao Command at a Peace Policy Workshop held in Davao City. At this workshop, the participants were introduced to the various initiatives taken by Mindanao units to actively build peace in their respective areas of responsibility. Col. Ernesto R. Aradanas, commander of the 603 Infantry Brigade based in Camp Iranun in Central Mindanao, shared his publication project that details how his brigade undertakes an integrated program for peace building. The Camp Iranun model demonstrates that peace building does not require retooling of official functions or the conscription of specialized equipment. It merely involves a change of attitude in the way soldiers do their regular jobs to be more open to listen to the people and help them establish conditions for peace in their communities.

But it is not only Aradanas who has evidently embraced peace building as a worthy goal towards which to direct the efforts and resources of a military unit. There is a growing indication that the concern for peace and alternative strategies to win it has entered into the consciousness of commanders higher up in the chain of command.

No less than the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines himself, Gen. Victor S. Ibrado, has reminded all commanders that managing conflicts is the AFP’s core competence. He issued Command Message 02-09 dated 13 July 2009, which states that: “Our Rules of Engagement are based on the Rules of Court. Respect for and  Protection of Human Rights are the key to our actions.”

Ibrado went on to exhort commanders to reflect on the moral, historical and legal perspectives of this new paradigm as he  ultimately hopes that its employment would make the AFP more responsive to the security and development needs of the community and to the call for internal stability, international solidarity and nation building.

In his inaugural address on May 9, 2009 as Commanding General ofthe Philippine Army, Lt. Gen. Delfin M. Bangit said, “My mission is not to kill them all, but to win them all.” This  statement reflects the changing mindset, one that recognizes that there is more  to war than fighting and killing. Indeed, this early, Bangit’s administration is  shaping up to get the Army to work not only for combat excellence, but to mitigate environmental threats and maximize the operation of engineering brigades to undertake infrastructure projects for farm-to-market roads, daycare centers, water systems and  school buildings in the hinterlands.

Just recently, on November 16, 2009, Maj. Gen. Carlos B. Holganza assumed command of the 10th Infantry Division.

In his speech on that rainy afternoon, he said that “Our soldiers realize now that winning the peace is what counts most, not just winning the war. They know that they are not just supposed to be warriors, but noble warriors who will know not just how to fight, but when and whom and why we must fight.”

In assuming the post as commander of the largest combat division of the  Philippine Army, Holganza vows to look at factors other than enemy killed, firearms taken and encounters initiated as the primary parameters by which to define victory. He promises to fine-tune the 10ID campaign with the new breed of thinking  and caring soldiers who will be dynamic, creative and relevant to the changing times. He makes a personal commitment to see to it that under his watch: “Your Agila troopers (in reference to soldiers under the 10ID) will strictly adhere to the tenets of human rights, and we will continue to develop sound moral standards and values that will uphold the sanctity of life. We will show utmost respect for our people, for our civilian superiors, and we will work hand-in-hand with them in providing selfless and dedicated service, particularly for those in need.” (Bobby Timonera with additional reports from Gail Ilagan/MindaNews)

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