AFP official: Good governance can defeat insurgency

MANILA, Philippines - Good governance is the best alternative for guns to hasten the defeat of the country’s long-running insurgency problem, a senior military official said the other day.

Brig. Gen. Francisco Cruz, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines – Civil Relations Services (AFP-CRS) said through effective local governance can government effectively address the root causes of the decades-old insurgency.

“We need to civilianize this insurgency war. An ideal campaign plan is conceived and implemented in harmony with all stakeholders, and with the local government units (LGUs) leading the fight,” said Cruz while speaking to students taking up Masters in Development Management Class 2010 at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Makati City.

He said AFP’s main role is just to secure communities and allow development to prosper.

Cruz underscored the importance of civilian participation and more extensive involvement of the local government units in the campaign against insurgency.

“The government’s response to insurgency requires a comprehensive, multi-dimensional, multi-agency and multi-sectoral approach to address the root causes of insurgency, not just its symptoms,” Cruz said.

Political warfare, Cruz pointed out, should take precedence over physical warfare or combat. Non-military methods should dominate the counter-insurgency strategy.

“Political warfare may encompass everything other than military operations. These would include Social Integration Program (SIP), amnesty, rural development and poverty reduction programs, information efforts (improving image of government), peace advocacies by civil society, sustainable land reform, and the peace process,” Cruz said.

Under the outgoing Arroyo administration through the military, it has employed the carrot and stick approach since three years ago to wipe out the insurgents before her term ends by the end of this month, he said.

All these moves however failed as the insurgents has remained to be a potent force to reckon in several areas of the country, especially in Bicol, Northern Luzon and in areas in Mindanao.

Recognizing the problem can be best addressed by good governance, Cruz said, adding there is a need for active Peace and Order Councils, where provincial government units are members themselves.