(Community Organizing for Counter Insurgency)

 
Community Organizing for Counter Insurgency
Importance of the study

This topic is in response to the CPP-NPA community

campaigns against the government. The organization
is aware that their activities are characterized by
deception as they profess noble intentions but actually
seek to destroy the democratic institutions of our
country. Their set-up involves using the community as
their front for agitation and propaganda. They utilize
the organized sectors in launching mass actions or
other social activities to condition the minds of the
people that government is merely a tool of the ruling
classes for exploiting and oppressing the masses.
Part of the communist strategy is to set up a shadow
government in areas where they operate or challenge
political control of a region.
Community Organizing – is a process where people who
live in proximity to each other come together into and
organization.

Counter – insurgency – is the organized used of

subversion and violence to slize, multiply or challenge
political control of a region.

Barangay Peacekeeping Operations- is a

comprehensive and catch-all anti-crime strategy that
seeks to empower all stakeholders to share the
responsibility of peacekeepingand order maintenance
towards self-policing with the idea of: “The community is
the police and the police is the community” with the BPAT
as the prime movers of BPO.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING FOR
COUNTER INSURGENCY

The PNP is always in the forefront in the fight against

primary threats to the peace and order: criminality,
insurgency, and terrorism. In order to lessen these
deficiencies, the PNP has to seek for the
participation of an active community in carrying out
its mandate.
Active Community Support is essential to the success of PNP
Operations. More than anyone else, the people in the community are
aware of their problems. They often know what is happening to their
neighbors. They are more concerned about these things because of
the impact it may have on their lives.

Hence, the police can use capitalize on this concern in the prevention
of crime and insurgency. Acknowledging that the community is a
virtual minefield of information, it would be advantageous for the PNP
to channel it towards the attainment of the ends of law enforcement.
On the other hand, one of the constraints of the community is the lack
of knowledge on how to relay any information to the authorities and
make it useful. This is aggravated by the fear of reprisal from criminal
syndicates. The PNPtherefore needs to lay down the groundwork so
that the community can be mobilizedfor the maintenance of peace and
order.
The maintenance of peace and order is not the sole
responsibility of the PNP, rather, it is a shared
responsibility of the community under the concept of:
“The Police is the Community and the Community is
the Police”, for indeed, no amount of skillful law
enforcement and meticulously diligent police work
can effectively aid in crime prevention and control
without the indispensable and active participation of
the community.
PRACTICAL EXERCISE:
Trainees will be divided into two (2) groups and will
be directed to role playing. The following scenarios
shall be the themes to act out:

a.Tamang Gawain at ISO Affected Areas

b.Tamang Gawain at Dialogues or Symposium
c. Tamang Gawain at Visit the Barangay/Coastal
Areas
 10 Basic Steps in Community Organizing
1. Integration

In this process the organizer immerses

herself/himself with the local community and
undergoes the same experiences of local people so
as to build mutual respect, trust and cooperation.
This can be done in many ways such as participation
in direct production activities, house visitations,
congregating and conversing with the people in
communal areas and attending social functions like
birthdays, weddings, feasts, wakes, etc
2. Social Investigation (SI) or Community Study

This is the process of systematically learning and

analyzing the various structures and forces in the
community as well as the problems and issues that
need immediate or long term solutions. The organizer
determines the community’s interests and attitudes to
the issues, identifies the potential leaders and come
up with a tentative approachto organizing. Social
investigation methods may include interviews
ordialogues with people, personal observations of the
organizer, examination and review of secondary data
or a participatory research. Social Investigation is a
continuous, ongoing process.
3. Issue identification Analysis

This is the process or defining, analyzing and ranking

community problems according to their importance, the
urgency of solving them, the number of people affected
and the probability of resolving them through
community mobilization. It aims to identify common felt
needs (not perceived needs of the community). These
issues or needs are often addressed through self-help
or externally-assisted socio-economic projects either
because people tend to shun confrontation with
authorities through negotiations and/or pressure tactics,
or peoples traditional concept of community action is
through socio-economic projects.
4. Core Group Formation

This means involving the more advanced local leaders who

have been spotted by the organizer during the integration
process. They are often constituted as core group. They
maybe informal or temporary leaders, i.e.,until a formal set of
leaders are elected or chosen by a community. This process
is necessary for the next stages of organizing-mobilization
and organization building. Good community leaders are
usually those who belong to the poorer sections of the
community are well-respected and influential members of the
community, possess a critical perspective; are desirous of
change and are willing to work for change; value collective
leadership and democratic participation, can communicate
effectively and can find time to perform the necessary tasks.
5. Ground Work and Community Meeting

Groundwork means to motivate people on a one-on-

one basis or through informal group discussions
towards collective action, sometimes with the aid of
core group. It aims to bring about the emotional, mental
and physical energies of the people and raise them to
the level that they are willing to take collective action.
After this is achieved, a community meeting is held to
arrive at an agreement on the necessary actions and to
delineate tasks to be undertaken to resolve the issue or
problem. In some cases, it is the core group who
handles the meeting, with the organizer staying in the
background.
6. Role Playing

This is a simulation practice for the community

members who are tasked to negotiate with persons
or authority or even adversary. In this session, the
organizer envisions every scenario that may take
place during “confrontation” or “dialogue” between
the community and the “target”. It aims to prepare
the leaders for the actual process of negotiation and
anticipates possible outcomes to ensure victory for
the community. This process usually done in issue-
based organizing.
7. Mobilization or Action

This is the high point of the organizing process.

Action may mean engaging in a dialogue or protest
under issue-based organizing, starting a livelihood
project or a cooperative under project-based
organizing. Mobilization or action is the community’s
expression of power while confronting the powerful.
8. Evaluation and or Reflection

This is an activity conducted after every action or

mobilization to extract lessons learned on how to
improve future mobilizations, and constitutes a vital
part in the training of the core group and the
community. The people take note of what has and
what has not been accomplished, and what remains
to be done. It is also an assessment of the strengths
and weakness of the community’s mobilization. It
can also be a self-assessment of all the trainees.
9. Formalization of the Community Based Organization

Lessons from the Philippine experience shows that

forming the people’s organization or action phase
has gone through. Some guidelines to consider in
setting up the organization include the maximum
number of membership; practice of collective or
shared leadership and emphasis on simplicity of
structure.
10. Phase Out

When the indicators for success set by the NGO have

been significantly met, e.g., high levels of socio-political
awareness, sustained membership participation, vibrant
pool of trained community leaders, clear plans and goals
set by the community, etc., the organizing process may
be turned over. The turn over includes the transfer of
community organizing roles and responsibilities as well
as documentshowever this does not necessarily mean a
complete pull out from the community as the NGO may
be able to assist the PO in a new role, such as ahelping
the community organizations form groups or federations
or engage in national advocacies.
PNP MASTER PLANS IN RELATION TO ISO
a. LOI SAMBAYAN

Purpose:

This Organization plans to generate community

partnerships and forge a united front for the promotion
of peace and order. It is designed to unify and
harmonize the efforts of all PCR units and to encourage
broad networking, ordination and integration of all
related undertakings within the PNP, LGUs, various
sectoral groups and peoples' organizations.
Mission:

The PNP shall undertake and orchestrate community organization

and mobilization campaign designed to bring about a peaceful
environment favorable to investment and tourism.

Operational concept:

To effectively carry out this Plan, the PNP shall utilize the AOM
concept, which involves three phases namely: Awareness and
Education, Organizing Community and Mobilizing Communication.
Furthermore, it shall involve a sustained alliance building
efforttapping the various sectors of the community and
strengthening all linkages with the LGUs and NGOs and other
community movers who can effectively support andcontribute to
the achievement of the PNP's anti-crime objectives.
b. LOI SANTINIG

Purpose:

This Letter of Instructions prescribes policies and guidelines

for members of the chain of command in all levelsof the
PNP for the release and dissemination of public information
to print and broadcast news media and answering
questions pertaining to cases handled as well as issues and
occurrences affecting the PNP. This is done as a way of
pre-empting unnecessary criticisms and reputations that are
often due to conjectures and speculations made by the
media in the absence of accurate and detailed information
which go to newspaper accounts and stories.
Mission

The PNP endeavors to provide the tri-media

adequate, accurate, event and timely information
regarding its major activities and programs
includingits significant accomplishments.
c. LOI 22/09 “ BAYANIHAN (Barangay Peace Keeping
Operations)

Mission
 
The PNP, concurrent with its missions and functions, shall
conduct community policing and ensure continuing active
community involvement geared towards the attainment of
peace and order.
The LOI 22/09 was established based on Section 4, Article II
(Declaration of Principles and State Policies) of the 1987
Constitution stating that: “The government may call upon the
people to defend the State and, in the fulfillment thereof, all
citizens may be required, under conditions provided by law,
to render personal, military of civil service"
The BPKO is considered as a “catch-all” strategy in the
maintenance of peace and order.  And, the BPAT is composed
of different groups/sectors in the community as force
multipliers. They shall be put under the supervision and control
of Police Community Precincts (PCPs).

Under the perspective, the PNP recognizes the role of

barangay tanods, bantay bayan, civilian volunteer
organizations, brgy auxiliaries, NGOs and other people’s
organizations that can be utilized as force multipliers in the
fights against criminality, insurgency and terrorism. This project
is a realization that anti-crime strategies and concepts being
employed by the PNP in the past years did not work well. The
reason: those were merely adaptation or revised versions of
strategies and concepts being adhered to in other countries.