The United States’ Armed Forces of the Philippines

It’s no secret the Philippines and the United States are close allies, but is this alliance one of partnership or peonage?

Ten Years On, Where is Jonas Burgos?

Modesty may have been the motif of his upbringing, but the life Jonas Burgos lived was anything but simple.

The Red Flag is Rising

Not that long ago, a Philippine president made a bold statement to “beat the odds”. The plan included crushing extremists in the south, ending a decades-old communist rebellion, stabilizing food prices and providing millions of rural jobs. As we all know, none of those bullet-points can be justifiably ticked off the list albeit a peace agreement framework […]

To Serve and Protect Themselves

Every year, a fresh batch of about 300 young men and women graduate from Asia’s premier military school — the Philippine Military Academy. The new officers take an oath at the end of their four year course, which is basically summed up by the motto of the Armed Forces of the Philippines — “to serve […]

Preparing for War

It was reported this week that hundreds of fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have undergone combat training in the rough terrains of the Lanao del Sur province. The reports came after news surfaced that the Aquino government and the 11,000 strong MILF were willing to resume peace talks. The talks are of course, aimed at the dearming of […]

Cat and Mouse

After weeks of countless assaults on peaceful civilian settlements, ambushes on military personnel, the Muslim separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) felt as if they were the dogs of their yard, Mindanao. But after they committed various atrocities against innocent civilians, including arson, murder, in a degree which can be considered as genocide they […]