Go to stage 3: Philippines

Sunday, 29 January 2012

No new US bases in the Philippines just the possibility of an increased US presence

Subic Bay US Naval Base...still history (Source: Wikipedia)

There were some media reports recently about consideration being given for new US bases in the Philippines but careful reading of both the US and Philippines announcements showed that there was no talk of bases just an increased US presence. The US did have bases in the Philippines before but between the actions of Philippines Senate and the eruption of Mt Pinatubo the US left (or was expelled from, depending on your viewpoint) its bases including very large facilities at Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay Naval Base. The Philippines have strict laws against foreign bases and foreign military involvement as the US has discovered in its counter terrorism fight in the Southern Philippines. Knowing that history and the legal reality the Philippines Foreign Secretary made it clear that there were no discussions about US bases in the Philippines.

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Posted at 15:01 in Philippines | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

Some quick links, Wednesday 24 August 2011

- The MILF have confirmed that they rejected the latest peace proposal from the Philippines Government but it does not mean negotiations are dead.

- They have also asked for 10 days to sort out their splintering faction, the BIFF.

- The full details on the proposal have not been released but apparently the MILF were requesting two senatorial positions be reserved for the Bangsamoro 'sub-state.'

Posted at 23:03 in Philippines | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

A tale of two ships - one from Vietnam and one from the Philippines

The last few days have seen news stories about the latest additions to two regional fleets, but the similarities of the intent of the announcements highlights the differences. Vietnam has seen the arrival of its second newly built Gepard Class Frigate while the Philippines has publicised the arrival of the largest vessel in the navy, a 44-year old former US Coast Guard Hamilton Class Cutter. The difference is stark given that both have had recent 'disputes' with China over incidents in the South China Sea.

Vietnamese Gepard Class Frigate (Source: Defpro.com)

Philippines Hamilton Class Cutter (Source: PhilStar)

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Posted at 22:32 in Philippines, Vietnam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Monday, 22 August 2011

Some quick links, Monday 22 August 2011

- North Korea has seized South Korean assets at the Mt Kumgang resort and given the South Koreans there 72 hours to depart...that won't go down well.

- The Philippines largest warship, a former USCG cutter has arrived in Manila Bay.

- Nothing says law and order control like deploying sharp-shooters around East Java to keep the Idul Fitri exodus under control.

Posted at 22:21 in Indonesia, Korea, Philippines | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

A new peace deal on the table for the MILF

Source: Channel News Asia article

The Government of the Philippines is reportedly offering another autonomy deal to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). This is after a previous autonomy deal was scrapped because of a Supreme Court decision that said the deal interfered with traditional land ownership rights.

"This proposal presents the possibility of a more empowered, more workable and thus, more genuine autonomy of a Bangsamoro (Filipino Muslim) region," the government said in a statement summarising its offer.

The details are not clear but the hints from the government are that the basic idea is that this deal would expand the Autonomous region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM Official Website). The ARMM has not been a great success due to poor government funding and also because of mismanagement by the ARMM leadership. A poor deal would not bring peace but would probably see the MILF splinter as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) did because of factions that were unhappy with the the original ARMM deal.

Posted at 22:03 in Philippines | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Sunday, 03 July 2011

The Hikayat Prang Sabi - A really useful text for rebellion

I was doing some reading about the early use of jihadi inspired suicide terrorism in Asia and came across reference to the Hikayat Prang Sabi-HPS (The Story of the War in the Path of God). It was a hikayat or story written in a very romantic form of verse about the Acehnese resistance to the Dutch in the 1873-1913 war. It was intended as a work to support the message of jihad of the Acehnese religious leader, Teuku Chik di Tiro (1836-91) in his fight against the Dutch.

What I found interesting was that according to the scholar Stephen Dale it was also imported into the Southern Philippines to inspire the Moros fighting the Spanish and a quick search on the web showed that it was used more recently as a source of inspiration for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)in its fight against the central Indonesian Government. A very good examination of what the document means in regards to the Acehnese concept of war is available here.

Teuku Chik di Tiro (Sourced from here)

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Posted at 22:12 in Indonesia, Philippines | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Monday, 27 June 2011

The Philippines, the US, the Spratly Islands and regional engagement

The media has been full of stories recently about increased tensions in the South China Sea due to the ongoing territorial dispute over the Spratly Islands. One of the most interesting developments in the most recent verbal exchanges has been the US announcement that it would review the military needs of the Philippines for defence. This can be seen from a number of different ways but I would like to explore just two views on this statement. First, it showed that the US is moving beyond its focus on terrorism in Southeast Asia. Second, it showed that the US was not withdrawing into an isolationist stance.

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Posted at 23:07 in Asia, China, Philippines, Vietnam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Sunday, 12 December 2010

Moro Armour

I have seen two sets of Moro Armour of the Southern Philippines and they caught my eye as I did not expect to see this type of armour from Southeast Asia. Although in researching this post I found photos of Bugis armour that is exactly the same as Moro armour due to links between the two groups. I am still not certain what the armour was used for as it is not well documented but I did have an interesting time finding out about it.

Moro armour in the Madrid Naval Museum

Moro armour in the Royal Armouries at Leeds

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Posted at 14:10 in Armour, Indonesia, Philippines | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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It may sound a bad way to open the review but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this book. I had not picked it up for reading pleasure but to try and understand more about the Choson military structure. It is a well written book and while it covers a lot of academic ground it managed to do so with surprising interest. I can thoroughly recommend this book. From the cover it may seem like a dry read but the work is well written and Park hasan engaging style. It is recommended for the reader of Korean history as well as for the more casual reader who may want to understand how a military bureaucracy functioned in pre-modern times. (*****)
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