NewsA Roundtable discussion on the Role of Peace and Order Councils (POCs) in the Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) in Metro Manila

The Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) and the Center for Local and Regional Governance organized a Roundtable Discussion on “The Role of Peace and Order Councils (POCs) in the Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) in Metro Manila” on October 11, 2018 at the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City. The event united people from the POCs of Quezon City, Manila City, and Taguig City, the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and women religious leaders (Madrasah) of the Noorus Salam.

The roundtable discussion (RTD) served as a venue to identify bigger partnership opportunities with the DILG and POCs. It paved the way for a better understanding of the nature of violence extremism (VE) and the role of the local government units (LGUs) and the POCs in PVE.

Talks were conducted to give background on the 2017 ASEAN PVE Conference and to understand violent extremism in global, national and local scales. A facilitated discussion among the participants followed these talks, to gather inputs regarding the role of POCs in PVE. All participants arrived at a consensus for the need to create a National Action Plan in PVE.

Ms. Amina Rasul, President of PCID, highlighted that military strategies alone cannot curb VE and the need to use soft approach is needed. The call for an inclusive cooperation among different sectors such as the youth, women, business, religious, academe and national government has been stressed. Active participation of POCs were deemed necessary.

Based on the UN Task Force on Development of National Action Plans for Countering Violent Extremism, violent extremism is the willingness to commit violent acts. ASec. Alexander Macario, Assistant Secretary for Peace and Security of the DILG, stressed that all acts of terrorism are extremism but not all extremism are terrorism or violent in nature. A brief historical perspective on terrorism revealed that VE in the Philippines could be traced back as early as 1965. ASec. Macario also identified the current top six armed groups that pose the most threat to the country. He stressed the urgency in PVE because most VEs are inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Furthermore, he called for soft approach since war costs 10 times more expensive than peace talks. However, the lack of convergence on soft approach is a major concern. Harmonization of PVEs will yield to better results. Widescale campaign on PVE throughout the country, and not just in areas of conflict, is necessary to prevent further recruitment.

During the facilitated group discussion, it has been identified that the most common problem/challenge seen in the role of POCs in peace-building and PVE is the lack participation and cooperation among members of the POCs and the LGUs. This resulted to a nonparticipative system of POCs in PVEs.  POCs expressed their concern over the lack of trust between the community and the LGU. Consequently, another important problem of the POCs is the lack of information or data on VE, which in turn, limits their PVE efforts for the community.

The DILG, meanwhile, cited the need to strengthen POC and its mandate, especially since its membership is officially limited to 6 people, most of which are from the military and the government.

The proposed action plans are to harmonize PVE efforts so that there will be aligned intervention. Reliance on the military for PVE should also be reduced.

All participants suggested to integrate PVE efforts in the criteria for the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG). Additionally, trust-building efforts between agencies should be done in order to avoid discontinuity in PVE. Good PVE models and practices could be studied and implemented into areas with similar settings.

Membership to POC should also be inclusive to the 6 sectors (youth, business, women, academe, religious) aside from the military and the government. Likewise, POCs should also involve these sectors in their PVE campaigns.