HEARTS AND MINDS AGAIN
Guyot, Erik
Hearts and Minds (again) There's something familiar about the Pentagon's strategy in the Philippines BY ERIK GUYOT Agood example of what may happen here is Nicaragua," says Philippine Colonel...
...The one billion pesos allocated for the civic-action program has not produced "any tangible result" in generating public support for the government, he said...
...Defense Department estimates NPA strength nationwide at up to 16,500 regular fighters backed by one million active supporters spread across almost every province...
...Last year, the Pentagon provided $22 million in spare parts for UH-1H "Hucy" and Sikorsky S-70 helicopters, as well as T-28 and C-130 aircraft, to bring them into combat shape...
...According to a local USIS officer, the USIS programs, with films, speeches, and television, "could do more than any F-16 could ever do" for counterinsurgency...
...in late October underscores the crisis of confidence within the Philippine officer corps...
...The local United States Information Service (USIS) office in Davao city is also active in the psychological campaign...
...In the Philippines, the Pentagon is confronted with a situation similar to the one it faced in El Salvador in 1980...
...Although Defense Department officials areconoerned about the most rapidly growing insurgency in the world, they are also the first lo acknowledge that the NPA is homegrown, not a product of Soviet expansionism...
...I do not teach for the government," Biazon says...
...arid the equipment now being sent to the Philippines is geared toward providing greater firepower and flexibility to small units...
...Marcos formally launched a new $55 million civic-action program with front-page photos of a meeting with Admiral William Crowe, who was then commander-in-chief of U.S...
...Since the military itself is no longer credible," says one colonel, who had engaged in a bloody campaign against Muslim separatists in the early 1970s, "we are the ones who arc deceptive, not the NPA...
...Colonel Alexander Bacalla...
...In reality...
...According to Echeverria, the NPA has doubled in strength in each of the last two years to 2,500 guerrillas...
...according to a high-ranking Philippine naval officer...
...Davao's normally bustling streets were deserted except for pedestrians, bicycles, and military patrols...
...The fate of the new acting chief of staff, GcneraLFidel Ramos, illustrates the difficulty of fashioning a charismatic "reformer" from the ranks of the Philippine military- For a while, the press touted the West Point-trained..Ramos as the lough disciplinarian who inspired confidence in his men by parachuting down to the troops ^ith a case of beer...
...On paper, the program follows the classic three-pronged approach, combining civic actions, psychological operations, and tactical operations in an integrated strategy designed to win public support while defeating the NPA, militarily...
...The "faint bright spot in this gloomy picture...
...But interviews with a dbzen Philippine officers of colonel grade or higher indicate that the Philippine military is far from the professional fighting force the Pentagon desires What's more, its counterinsurgency program is only swelling the ranks of the opposition...
...However, he denied that the recent killings of priests, allegedly by military units, reflected military poiicy...
...military bases and his continued control over the armed forces...
...The training in psychological warfare Echeverria received at Fort Bragg is not effective, he concedes: instead he 'learns from them [the NPA...
...Blazon's superiorand regional commander of the area...
...if the top and division commanders are political," a longtime colonel complains, "but not the brigade or battalion level on down...
...Biazon's marines are singled out by the Pentagon in the international press as a model of a disciplined, aggressive fighting force, yei their reputation depends on an explicit division of labor in which other units conduct the dirty work of house-to-house searches and interrogation...
...aT Blood on the Uniform "/ can no longer wear with pride the uniform i once so proudly wore...
...Indeed, the Pentagon attributes opposition and NPA growth to years of grinding poverty and political repression...
...Increasing the firepower of the Icss-thandiscriminating Philippine military worries some American officials...
...the United States has persuaded them to ask lor less glamorous "move, shoot, and communicate items" such as trucks, armored cars, and helicopter spare parts...
...each part of ihe program suffers from us own internal contradictions, and in each area the Philippine military, even by its own standards, is losing...
...support and guidance, imposes a military solution on a long-festering economic and political crisis Ofthe three major components, the one that appears the most benign—civic actions—receives the most publicity...
...Blazon recognizes that such dirty work is important...
...But Philippine officers sympathetic to Ramos say that after more than a year as , acting chief of staff, he has been unable to place supporters in key positions and is surrounded by followers of General Ver, who'is on leave pending the outcome of the Aquino murder trial but who still holds considerable power...
...support and guidance, essentially imposes a military' solution on a long-festering economic and political crisis...
...There's a battalion commander whose unit is in Mindanao and he's studying for his M.A...
...Red arrows designate the insurgent New People's Army, the National Democratic Front, and the Communist Parly...
...L'nder the Marcos dictatorship, that uniform—in the eyes of our people—drips with blood, the hlood of countless victims of military atrocities, and the Mood of Xinoy Aquino...
...Bacalla described his work as the number two officer at the general headquarters' J-7...
...equipment is used for "police purposes," the Philippine military uses a 1984 shipment of ninety armored cars, each weighing ten tons and equipped with two machine guns, to plow through and scatter peaceful urban demonstrations...
...Mindanao, left three dead...
...according to government-controlled newspapers...
...Rivalry within the ranks runs so strong that gun battles have erupted between units...
...During the early 1970s, Marcos forged the military into his main power base by expanding its economic role and rewarding loyal officers with lucrative corporate positions...
...Defense Department officials are surprisingly blunt in expressing their anxiety...
...The armed forces have also stepped up their "salvaging"—extrajudicial executions— from 368 cases in 1983 to 445 in 1984...
...The counterinsurgency program, being waged with generous amounts Bof U.S...
...As his troops complete their evening training, Biazon points to a diagram headed "Philippine Insurgency Problem: The Scramble for Mass'Sup-port...
...Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, told Congress last March, "One of the most disturbing things about the insurgency is the fact that almost all,'"' almost 100 per cent, of the weapons come- t from inside the country...
...The growth of the NPA [New People's Army] is fast...
...The acting chief of staff...
...In Davao, Colonel Bia/on claims that the funds allocated for Mindanao are "not sufficient" and may not get through because of "other factors.1' In the realm of psychological operations, the Philippine military is saddled with the double burden of its reputation and the unpopularity of the Marcos regime...
...When the local transport union announced a one-day strike...
...yellow stands for the legal opposition...
...says Brigadier General Echeverria...
...According to Echeverria...
...Well into her middle age, she jokes about using her "womanly charm" to mediate between the demonstrators and the troops...
...The psy-op [psychological operations] techniques of the armed forces have not been able to measure up to those propaganda and organizing techniques of the NPA [New People's Army]," he added...
...The next week, all of Mindanao shut down for a two-day general strike...
...In tiny El Salvador, the Pentagon developed a core of "professional" officers by almost tripling the size of the armed forces and providing extensive training in the United States...
...advisers in a "major effort to assist the AFP in improving the existing logistics system through use of MTTs [Military Training Teams...
...In leaving the general staff and eschewing a shot at the much-coveted general star...
...Over the years, we have killed a lot of insurgents, yet the figures of active in-surgence continue to rise...
...Though the Philippine air force already possesses a sizable fleet of counterinsurgency aircraft, many arc grounded for lack of spare pans...
...The U.S...
...Lack of competent personnel is not the only problem...
...In the military-aid package for 1985...
...He knows that popular support is essential in the archipelago of fifty-four million...
...During the 1970s, the Philippine air force dropped wtpaiin on Muslim.secessionists...
...he has increased disciplinary powers and is tightening up on abuse...
...It is war materiel that can be used when the need arises...
...Military atrocities arc on the rise, pushing more and more people towards the NPA and its political counterparts, the coalition National Democratic Front and the Communist Party...
...He accused Marcos of "converting the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines] into an instrument of personal rule...
...Helicopters will provide both increased fire support and mobility, while C-130 troop transports could improve response time throughout the thousand-mslc archipelago...
...in Manila...
...Bacalla blamed Marcos for "the deterioration ofthe armed forces of the Philippines—in integrity, competence, and morale...
...In Mindanao alone in 1984, salvagings by the military averaged one a day...
...But Marcos still holds two trump cards: the U.S...
...Despite high-level Administration denials that I'.S...
...General Fidel Ramos, has not delivered on his pronouncements of reform, said Bacalla, noting that the general was party to an agreement prohibiting him from altering the command structure while chief of staff General Fabian Vcr was on leave of absence...
...The military's involvement in the August 1983 assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino has also badly shaken the ranks...
...It's OK...
...Momentum is clearly with the NPA, which initiates most military encounters, according to a recent reErik Guyot spent more than three months last year in the Philippines conducting research on human rights and militarization...
...Poor leadership coupled with massive corruption, especially among the higher ranks, makes battle-weary troops less willing to die for their comfortable commanders...
...With these words...
...In Butuan city...
...It is "at the local level where we run into some troubles," he said...
...The State Department paper recommends the use of U.S...
...now his regular troops in the region surrounding Davao city barely hold a two-to-one numerical advantage...
...Mobility gets at the heart of the question...
...Until recently, the Pentagon appeared to be making progress in "professionalizing" the military...
...Millions of pesos worth of schools and roads are now being built to "raise the living standards in the rural areas...
...At some point, "we cannot use that technique anymore," she says...
...These enable him lo resist tampering with his military power base...
...Military reform may have stalled, but the counterinsurgency program the Pentagon has been publicly urging for more than a year is in full gear...
...commander of the Third Marine Brigade in Davao city in the southern island of Mindanao...
...The armed forces no longer request sophisticated weaponry...
...a twenty-seven-year veteran and graduate of the two Philippine military academies, formally announced his defection from the armed forces ofthe Philippines...
...blue arrows represent the government and military...
...The counterinsurgency program, being waged with generous amounts of U.S...
...patrons...
...Armitage repeated this bleak assessment in testimony before the Senate in October...
...War-torn Mindanao, slightly larger in population than El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras combined, poses the gravest challenge to Ferdinand Marcos's rule...
...The Reagan Adminislration believes it can best protect its interests in America's largest former colony by underwriting and guiding the Philippine military in a massive counterinsurgency campaign...
...To back its emphasis on civic action, the Pentagon is allocating $10 million in military aid for engineering equipment...
...In Mindanao, such Vietnam-era techniques as free-fire zones and strategic hamlets only increase rural resistance...
...Although widespread discontent among younger officers poses a potential threat to Marcos's control General Fabian Vcr, the chief of stafTand Marco$*s most powerful lieotenant...
...As Richard Armitage...
...Bacalla claimed that "under the present leadership, it is next to impossible to reform the armed forces from within...
...and his supporters still hold the reins of power, especially the intelligence service...
...port by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence...
...Reality is somewhat different...
...Barring dramatic reform, dramatic change, we could still face a situation of strategic stalemate in the next three to five years," Armilage testified in October...
...the branch for psychological operations and civic action...
...Ramos's past as head of the notorious Philippine constabulary weighs against major reforms...
...General Echeverria responds to statistics on salvaging from church-based human-rights groups by dismissing such "vague" complaints as "enemy propaganda...
...Last March...
...El Salvador style, by replacing Marcos loyalists with capable officers who would be more amenable to direction from the Pentagon, Officer training in the United States had doubled in recent years, and the Pentagon stated before Congress that it was counting on "a solid cadre of competent, patriotic officers in the AFP who have the determination to institute the necessary reforms and turn the NPA tide...
...says the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is the elite Philippine marines...
...Mindanao, a nun explains how the escalating military response is closing off peaceful options...
...While Washington urged military reform...
...But after her gentle efforts met oncoming U.S.-made armored cars, she realized the futility of her approach...
...General Echeverria concedes that the opposition "is winning" what he calls the "propaganda war" for public support...
...Hearts and Minds (again) There's something familiar about the Pentagon's strategy in the Philippines BY ERIK GUYOT Agood example of what may happen here is Nicaragua," says Philippine Colonel Rodolfo Biazon...
...Vv^ have napalm in the Philippines...
...E.G...
...Whoever wins their hearts and minds ascends to power...
...Now the results of this system of patronage and manipulation have come back to haunt Marcos and his U.S...
...says Armitage...
...Perched at the top of the 220,000 Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are some 100 generals: one-third are past retirement age and those holding key posts are Marcos loyalists better known for their political prowess than their military skills...
...the Philippines received $70 million, a major escalation toward what, in El Salvador, has been described as an "air war," The Pentagon has been calling for troop rotations to boost morale, while Armitage hails the promise of new training programs to "sharpen counterguerrilla warfare skills...
...But major retraining is beyond the capacity ofthe Philippine armed forces, since the military is stretched too thin fighting the NPA to pull whole units out of combat...
...In the battlefield everybody has a role to play...
...But with almost a quarter of a million military and paramilitary personnel in the Philippine armed Forces, the Pentagon faces the more difficult task of a wholesale purge...
...Let's face it, the military personnel arc not discerning in their counterinsurgency effort...
...After a series of high-level visits to Manila in early 1985, Armitage told Congress that "our colleagues in the [Philippine] Ministry of Defense were willing and even eager to have frank exchanges on their efforts to develop an effective counterinsurgency strategy...
...During a private interview...
...With increased amounts of weaponry and pressure for professionalization, the Pentagon seeks to transform the lackluster Philippine military into a successful counterinsurgency force...
...A high-level State Department paper, leaked to the press last spring, confirmed the need to "reorient Philippine participation in joint exercises to concentrate on tasks which will advance civic-action capabilities...
...s the couniennsurgency program M^k fails to reduce public support for ^^lilu1 opposition, the Philippine military must rely on combat operations to crush "subversive activity," Here, the Pentagon lends a helping hand, granting an almost two-fold increase in counterinsurgency materiel, with calls from Armitage for the Philippine military to remedy "deficiencies in training—both technical and in small-unit or counterinsurgency tactics...
...More importantly...
...I teach against communism...
...another career officer says...
...nterservice rivalry, corruption, and Bpoor morale are reducing the capacity I of the Philippine military forces...
...As one Philippine observer close to the military says„"You don't develop a powerbase by firing your supporters...
...Among these officers, resentment runs deep...
...His dramatic declaration at an anti-Marcos convention in Washington...
...In fact, general headquarters turned down a proposal to weed out militarily until troops because, "if they |the unfit] are removed, ihey might join the other side...
...In December 1984, for instance, an eight-hour firelight between drunk army soldiers and the Philippine constabulary in Zamboango city...
...The Reagan Administration now admits thal*mijjiary atrocities and corruption are as common as ever...
...During appropriations hearings, one Senator, concerned thai the weaponry might push more Filipinos into armed opposition, asked whwher "this military hardware, helicopters, whatever, [would be] utilized in an aggressive manner by the military' on the residents of the Philippines who arc striking out for human rights...
...Instead of using a "shotgun ap-n proach," Biazon aims to split the legal op-" position off from the more radical groups, which are responsible for the strikes and demonstrations that repeatedly paralyze Davao city...
...We could blanket Mindanao for the price of one plane...
...Below are about 700 colonels whose chances for promotion are blocked by these "political generals...
...He maintains, for instance, that "the Church is unproponion-ally being treated with kid gloves...
...He explained how church social-action programs are "mislaken for something 'subversive' by the military" at the local level...
...forces in the Pacific...
...The critics, he says, are "hoping to get us tired" spending time investigating...
...In 19R, MajjFGeneral Vicente Piccio!Vie Philippine air force chief„announccd...
Vol. 50 • January 1986 • No. 1
