Daphney Dee A.

Sugay
AB Foreign Service 301
International Political Economy
Jumel G. Estrañero
February 25, 2018
“The War Inside Us”

“We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.”
–Veronica Roth, Insurgent

We all have battles that we choose to fight. We all have ideas that we want to be heard.
We all have war inside us. An insurgent is a person who acts in opposition to established
authority. He/she is someone who wants to rebel against the government to voice out his/her
advocacy or purpose. The purpose of an insurgent is what keeps him/her alive. However, this
may also destroy the world around him/her. “Insurgency is best defined as an organized
movement aimed at the overthrow or destruction of a constituted government through the use of
subversion, espionage, terrorism and armed conflict.”1 It is an organized resistance movement
that aims to overthrow the existing government or social order.

During the implementation of the Martial Law, insurgents had the urge to fight for their
rights. China also supported them for a short amount of time then ceased all their activities which
caused a decline of stability for these groups. However, they formulated ways to receive support
from other groups from different countries such as, Korea, Palestine, El Salvador, etc. In my
opinion, the guiding political philosophy of insurgency is the ideology of Communism.
Communism is structured upon common ownership and the absence of social classes. I believe
that these groups of people want their voice to be heard through their insurgent actions. I have
read about the acts of rebellion of these groups that led to deaths. Activism can also be related to
insurgency because it is the act of campaigning for social change or in other words, rallying to be
heard. Our political economy is affected by these actions because as a nation, our government is
responsible of creating a safe environment for its citizens. Therefore, they must give necessary
action to those protesting against the government.

1
H. Thomas Hayden, MBA, MA, a retired Marine with over 35 years of government and defense industry service,
discussed insurgency in an article entitled "Insurgency vs. Terrorism"
 President Duterte has made a ceasefire with the leftist groups but it did not last for long,
due to his promise that he will release prisoners. These groups are now vicious enemies of the
government. As I have read in the news, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said the
proclamation, already signed by Mr. Duterte, is in accordance with RA No. 10168, regarding
“any person or entity designated and/or identified as a terrorist, one who finances terrorism, or a
terrorist organization or group under the applicable United Nations (UN) Security Council
Resolution or by another jurisdiction or supranational jurisdiction.”2 In my opinion, these groups
actually have the potential to become terrorists. They attack the government to express their
rebellion and voice out their opinions. They are given the freedom to rebel but, this is quite
alarming for us citizens because of the possibility that it might result to war. Insurgency can lead
to belligerency if the state does not take action. If the rebels are granted the state of belligerency,
they will be subjected to international law and must be responsible for their actions.

“Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.” The youth is the hope of the nation, from the
words of Dr. Jose Rizal. Watching the news and videos about the CPP-NPA recruiting minors,
made me reflect on the lives of the youth. We are very fortunate to live in a safe home
surrounded by people that care for us and to be educated by teachers and professors. While the
CPP-NPA youth are risking their lives to support their cause and commit to their groups. It is
saddening that these children did not get to experience the beauty and innocence of being a child.
At such a young age, they are taught how to fire a gun and fight for survival. These groups have
instilled in the minds of these youth that they need to fight for their cause disregarding what they
truly want. Minorities are being taken for granted by these leftist groups. In addition to this, in
UNTV’s Bayanihan, a rebel returnee was interviewed and asked her about experience her NPA.
In her testimony, she slowly realized that there was no purpose for her to endanger herself
joining this group. She also added the ill-treatment of women in this group, particularly raping
women without being sanctioned. It is extremely demoralizing for women to be treated as
objects when all they wanted was to join a group that they thought would voice out their
opinions.

As an informed student and citizen, I have always dreamt of an idealist society. Although
it is hard to achieve, we can always be a little closer by fixing the system of our government. The

2
http://bworldonline.com/duterte-issues-order-tagging-cpp-npa-terrorists/
government is only there to implement and we are tasked to follow. In my opinion, these groups
should be taken seriously and treated equally with others. Just because they are against the
government, does not mean that they should not be subjected to punishment for their crimes. I
recommend the youth to be mindful of the issues happening locally and internationally. We must
be the change that we want to see in this world. I also recommend the government to take action,
not just blossoming words. The government should implement the necessary action to protect
and preserve the lives of its citizens. We should not result to inhumane behaviour such as rape. I
recommend the minorities to stand up for themselves and correct those who are abusive of their
power.

REFERENCES:

What is the difference between insurgency and terrorism? - US - Iraq War - ProCon.org. (n.d.).
Retrieved February 24, 2018, from
https://usiraq.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000931

CPP–NPA–NDF rebellion. (2018, February 22). Retrieved February 24, 2018, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPP%E2%80%93NPA%E2%80%93NDF_rebellion

Torralba, M. J. (2017, December 05). Duterte issues order tagging CPP-NPA terrorists.
Retrieved February 24, 2018, from http://bworldonline.com/duterte-issues-order-tagging-cpp-
npa-terrorists/