Perpetual War: The Philippine Insurgencies

The Philippines is afflicted by two of the longest running insurgencies in the world. The communist New People’s Army (NPA) have been fighting to establish a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist state since 1969. The Muslim separatist movements represented by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and a break away faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), have been fighting a rebellion since 1973. Although the government and the MNLF have signed a peace agreement in 1996, violence continues to erupt in the island of Mindanao, where the Muslim population is concentrated. The resources spent on these insurgencies are a heavy burden on the Philippine economy and the unstable peace and order conditions created by it have kept the country’s economic performance far below that of its regional neighbors. But these conflicts could have been settled earlier and the Philippines could have devoted more time and resources to resolving the economic causes which drove the insurgencies in the first place. Why these conflicts managed not only to survive but to recover is the subject of thesis. How the government responded to these internal challenges, what strategy the rebels adapted and the intervention of 3rd parties partly explain why these insurgencies have been active for more than three decades.