Political Violence, the State and the Anti-State

TaLkingPoiNts aldo, Isis International Manila T Mayang Political Violence, The State and the Anti-State by Miriam Coronel Ferrer This paper discusses the Philippine context of a state facing off with socialist revolutionary groups threatening its power. However, the typical solution is violence, specially now that the government’s anti- communist stance is now re-stated as anti-terrorism. Meanwhile, anti-state forces also use violence to challenge state power. 66 Talking Points No.2 2006 WOMEN IN ACTION 7 5 For centuries, national security Reports of de facto curfews, arbitrary options of states straddled between two searches, harassment, imposition of the approaches: one based on power, the cedula, and mopping up operations, reflect other based on peace. The first option, that the classic counter-insurgency power, may be better said as “power approach of draining the fish of its over” or the principle of domination water continues. To suffocate the fish, over the groups posing a challenge to the water is contained, drained or the state—its policies, actions, and more rendered unable to resist military fundamentally, its nature. “Power over,” pressure. at the minimum, aims to neutralise, and at the maximum exterminate, eliminate, These methods have been referred to subjugate contending forces in the name as “collective impact measures.” This of the state and its desired attributes— type of measures intends to hurt the sovereignty, stability, survival. At a populace in order to render them glance, this approach seems to be the submissive. A local resident who gets only logical option for a weak state, killed in the process is seen as collateral whose very weakness forces it to make damage to the intent. a show of being strong. Collective impact measures also function The second approach is peace—that is, as “collective punishment.” Residents to seek peace as a precondition to and/ are scolded and threatened for acts or an outcome of security. This deemed sympathetic to the enemy. In approach is founded on the core values general assemblies recently held in of tolerance, pluralism, and dialogue, the Central Luzon by the military under exact opposite of the values in the first General Jovito Palparan, a former approach: intolerance, exclusivity, brute commander of the Philippine Army, force and monologue. It involves state- residents are beseeched and courted, building through much needed reforms. entertained with songs and sexy dancers Its guiding principle is “do no (more) in exchange for their sympathies. They harm” to the situation as it is. are urged to speak out despite the asymmetry in the situation: unarmed, Collective impact measures poor farmers facing fully armed lieutenants, colonels, and generals. But What we have been witnessing in the when they speak out and complain of Philippines in the last years is an internal abuses of government soldiers, they are security approach founded on the state’s reprimanded and accused of being attempt to dominate and subjugate “influenced” by the insurgents or by critical socio-political forces. Its guiding being members of the New Peoples principle is precisely to “do harm”. Army (NPA). They become the brunt It incorporates the usual military of displaced aggression, the easy target operations against communist guerillas of traumatised soldiers faced with operating in the countryside. Such an elusive “enemies.” approach relies heavily on the Philippine The unprecedented high number of army entailing the participation of state killings of political activists in the agencies. Philippines associated with national 6 7 democratic organisations as well as other its norms, polarise, and desensitise. They The society left-wing groups in compressed time is provide fodder to counter-violence, and endures a part of this “collective punishment” diminish faith in the system and peaceful frame. The extrajudicial killings share the change. They are sure-fire formulas for high level of same features of rural community-based greater violence. They are our own criminal counter-guerilla warfare: indiscriminate “low-tech” version of weapons of mass or dismissive of the distinction between destruction which nonetheless leads to violence, combatants and non-combatants, and the same MAD-ness or “mutually and delivery clouded by “hate language” and assured destruction.” The victory they demonisation of the enemy. A slight lay claim is short-term, flaky, and one- of socio- difference is that the killings are sided. somewhat disguised: they are not done economic by men in military uniform, whereas the Multi-Layered Contexts usual counter-insurgency is marked by goods is There are multi-layered contexts on this troops descending in communities who intensified state violence against a certain limited. Its seek security and cover in numbers. institutions are social force, its various apparatuses, but The killings’ desired impact is the same: ultimately, violence or assault on the flawed; its fear, paralysis, scuttling of the citizens at large. organisational network, albeit not just in infrastructure, One context is the short term: President the local but the national sense. The goal Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s (GMA) is to break the political infrastructure deteriorating political survival. or destroyed. of the movement whose good showing in the past election under the party list The long and short of this context is system and corresponding access to pork the legitimacy question raised against her barrel funds were, from the point of administration. Here, the national view of the anti-communist state, democratic left has played a major role, alarming. National politics is after all whether in the attempts at setting off the bigger pond where the fish swim. an impeachment process or in military But here the instructions are straight to coup-cum-street protests that will force the point: kill the fish. GMA to step down. The national democratic left has also put blocks to In this power-based approach attempts of the government to manifested in collective punitive strengthen its emergency powers or measures, victory is easy to measure. insulate the presidency from the checks One is through body count: how many powers in the hands of Congress and are dead and wounded? Another is the citizens. through weapons count: how many weapons were seized? The final measure It is to the GMA presidency’s interest is on the number of communities, to weaken the multiple machineries of organisations, and people neutralized. the national democratic left through both judicial and extra-judicial means. It is to Collective impact measures create more GMA’s interest to reward the loyalty of problems due to the social tensions and key state players crucial to her political resentment they generate in the survival, notably, the military, the police communities and the affected public. and the members of Congress. It is in They erode the fabric of society, confuse her interest to join the “coalition of the 8 6 Talking Points No.2 2006 WOMEN IN ACTION willing” and the US-led global fight What is a failed state? Rotberg (2004) against terrorism in order to get the describes it as one marked by enduring backing and material support of US violence, though not necessarily always President Bush. In this regard, the GMA of high level of intensity. It is tense, administration actively lobbied for the deeply conflicted, dangerous and inclusion of the Communist Party of contested bitterly by warring factions, the Philippines (CPP)-NPA in the list of with varieties of civil unrest and two or terrorist organisations of the US and more insurgencies, different degrees of European bodies – even though the communal discontent and other forms CPP-NPA does not as a rule employ of dissent directed against it and at terrorist methods like bombings. groups within it. Parts of the territory, notably the peripheral regions, are not But beyond the GMA presidency is the under its control. There is a high level state of affairs of the Philippine state – of physical insecurity among citizens, the more important, larger context. This thus they are armed or they join rebel is a question that will transcend GMA, groups. The society endures a high level and is related to but distorted by the of criminal violence, and delivery of partisan peddling of charter change. This socio-economic goods is limited. Its is the specter of not just a weak state institutions are flawed; its infrastructure, but of a disintegrating, failing state, one deteriorating or destroyed. where governance increasingly becomes unstable and short-sighted, and reforms The more recent line from General impossible. The prospects of a failed Palparan, said over one television state result from the transgressions of program recently, is almost a tacit the Marcos administration that the recognition of the situation of the country has inherited and how its political Philippines as a failing state. Only in such elites have selfishly played their games a state can his explanation for the killings in this situation. It is the bigger context make sense. According to Palparan, the where the wanton use of state violence killings are perpetuated by people taking by both civilian and political leaders, and vengeance on the NPA for the latter’s the military’s privileged role in national abuses. Queried if these people include security and national politics have soldiers, he replied in the positive, saying become even more ominous. such soldiers are probably taking revenge for the death of other soldiers. If the state were a viable state, can this kind of anarchy and lame excuse be palpable? This is the specter of not just a weak Anti-communism and state but of a disintegrating, failing anti-terrorism state, one where governance Anti-communism as the ideological increasingly becomes unstable and foundation of and justification for the state’s excessive use of violence remains. short-sighted, and reforms The language of anti-terrorism adds a impossible.

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