The nation’s southern region faces extended martial rule prompted by sustained clashes between Maute-Islamic State forces and counterterrorist fighters, Manila Mayor Joseph E. Estrada moved to work with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in beefing up the capital’s resistance to extremist threats.
To date, 23 soldiers and two policemen from the AFP’s Joint Task Force-National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) have been formally welcomed by Estrada and will soon be deployed in Quiapo for a two-month Community Support Program (CSP).
“Your efforts to insulate our communities from violent extremist ideologies, and from the influence of groups seeking to recruit individuals for their radical activities, will have long-term benefits as we seek to create a peaceful and progressive city,” Estrada told the JTF-NCR contingent as, he sent them off to launch the CSP.
CSP, formerly knows as the Peace and Development Outreach Program, is an AFP initiative that seeks to empower communities by making them conflict-resilient and capable of addressing both human- and nature-induced threats, particularly terror attacks and calamities. The 25 strong contingent will hold community immersions in barangays 383 and 384 in Quiapo, and will be expected not only to secure the barangays from “violent extremism and terrorism”, but to also engage in socio-civic activities, such as tree-planting, construction, repair and cleanup of schools and other facilities, education-information drive, disaster-response trainings and interfaith activities, JTF-NCR Deputy Commander Col. Victor Tomas said.
Barangays 383 and 384 in Quiapo have been chosen as pilot sites for the two-month CSP, following recent attacks in the district, such as the twin bomb explosions that killed two persons and injured 20 more in one of Metro Manila’s largest Muslim communities earlier this year.
Estrada had earlier said he believed the series of attacks in Quiapo appeared to be part of a “religious war”, since the incidents involved targeting an imam, despite other investigative authorities claiming there was no evidence linking the attacks to religious extremists. Nevertheless, Tomas underscored the need to capacitate all the citizens in Quiapo so that they may “stand alone for any threats and attacks, or influence of terrorism and extremism”.
“We all know the security challenges the nation is facing, especially in Mindanao and Marawi [City]. We don’t want the same to happen here [in Manila],” Tomas said.
Another recent incident involving Manila in a terrorist attack was the discovery and successful defusal of a bomb placed near the US Embassy in Manila. This incident was cited in the 2016 US Country Reports on Terrorism released last Wednesday, which also labeled the Philippines as one of five countries that sustained the most number of terror attacks in 2016. The report pointed fingers at President Duterte’s focus on war on drugs and confusion between forces working on counterterrorism as main reasons for the slow neutralization of terrorist groups and incidents in the country.
“President Duterte’s focus on antinarcotics and counterterrorism operations slowed progress toward shifting internal-security functions from the AFP to the Philippine National Police [PNP]. The PNP is responsible for ensuring peace and security throughout the country, including arresting terrorists and conducting terrorism investigations. The AFP, including special operations units, often supplants the PNP as the primary force tasked with counterterrorism operations, and coordination between the two services is improving, but remained a challenge in 2016,” the report read.
Estrada wants to see the country pull down from this list, hence the collaboration with JTF-NCR. In welcoming the forces, he said he is hoping the JTF-NCR’s work in Manila “will spell the end of radicalization and polarization, and improve the prospects for peace and unity in our time”.