“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
— Sun Tzu
A great part of the 53IB strategy to win the war against insurgency is knowing the enemy and the community wherein they operate. Understanding the reasons for the peoples’ support, alliance, or affiliation with the CTG has broadened the troop’s perception of the adversaries.
The CPP-NPA manipulated and used poverty, injustice, and isolation that were experienced by people in the hinterland communities. Dispirited by the government’s inability to meet their needs, they quickly fell victim to the wrong ideology. Some are swayed by the promise of monetary compensation, while others were hooked by the well-crafted enemy propaganda.
Looking at the enemy as victims themselves has shaped the way the battalion approached and treated the CNTs. With a determined objective to neutralize the enemy, the 53IB also focused their goals on empowering the communities and disseminating truthful information. They matched their warfighting capabilities with cunning and well-planned information operations.
For Second Lieutenant Yu, the information environment plays a critical role in shaping public opinion and perception toward the enemy and the military forces. The CPP-NPA successfully fashioned the people’s perception in their favor because they influenced the information landscape for a long time.
This influence by the CPP-NPA was evident in many instances where the troops recovered newsletters, books, and other written propaganda materials during encounters and in seized CTG hideouts and camps. They gained the communities support because they used to be the only ones communicating with the people. For many years, the army failed to end the CTG presence in the province because they had lost the people even before starting the fight.
Telling the Truth
Bringing his lessons during the Marawi Crisis in 2017, where he was designated as the Spokesperson of Joint Task Force (JTF) Marawi and led the CMO and IO efforts, Lieutenant Colonel Herrera prompted his troops to develop a strategic communications management system. They intensified their CMO and IO efforts to destroy the enemy’s will to fight and shun propaganda and disinformation campaigns against the government. The 53IB highlighted the interplay of infantry battalion operations and information operations, knowing well enough that they need to get ahead in the battle of public perception to win the war. It was their time to win the hearts and minds of the people.
Communicating the strategy is an important pillar of the whole strategy. The people should know and understand what the 53IB is doing. It does not only legitimize their operations; it also brings the people to appreciate the hard work that the troops are putting on their work. A supportive community boosts the morale of the soldiers and lifts their confidence in accomplishing their mission.
Dominating the Information Landscape
The first step in information operations was to assess and characterize the information landscape. Second Lieutenant Yu is the information officer of the battalion. He coordinates with the battle staff to define and evaluate the information environment. They continuously identify societal structures within the area of operations, including human networks, groups, and organizations that associate along political, cultural, and religious lines. They analyze the characteristics of these civil organizations emphasizing their agenda, narratives, and connections, and design civil affairs activities to establish, maintain, influence, or exploit relations between their forces and the local populace.
Another essential step in the battalion’s efforts was tapping the government in the information campaign. In October 2020, the Provincial Information Office with the 53IB launched the Strategic Communications Cluster of the ZDS Provincial Task Force ELCAC. This coordination with different information agencies within the cluster under EO 70 has given them a head start in their information campaign. The inter-agency cooperation provided a support base for IO infrastructure and widened their reach in communicating and legitimizing their efforts and gains on the battlefield. Legitimacy is a decisive factor in the success of military operations. It is the people’s actual and perceived legality, morality, and rightness of their actions.
The battalion also established strong coordination with the local media to amplify their information dissemination activities and help them reach a bigger audience. They utilized media platforms and infrastructure to send their message to the remotest of places. According to Second Lieutenant Yu, “Critical to information dominance is the ability to release information ahead of the enemy before they can manipulate the narratives.” The enemy has mastered public deception circumventing information to discredit the military and the government, trying all they can do to raise public support. It was indeed critical to be on the information platforms first, reaching far and wide, not only to be ahead of the enemy but, most importantly, to tell the truth.
Keeping the People Abreast
Public information campaigns that makes use of timely, accurate, truthful, and relevant information complement the success of Army operations. Advocacy forums were regularly conducted in schools, colleges, and universities to educate the students about the deceitful designs used by the CPP-NPA to recruit students. The CPP-NPA has always used the schools to recruit young new members. They take advantage of the idealism and the gullibility of the youth. The 53IB countered the enemy’s efforts to bring more people to the communist armed insurgency by engaging the students and teachers. The battalion’s public information campaigns insulated the people from the enemy propaganda.
Getting into the Mind of the Enemy
“It is important to translate tactical gains into strategic and moral victory to win the war.”
— Lt. Col. Jo-ar A. Herrera
The goals of IO were to rally positive public support behind the military, get the people into action to reinforce their counterinsurgency efforts, and, more importantly, penetrate the psychology of the enemy — manipulate the impact of information upon their will and decision-making. They send out and deliver persuasive audio, visual, audio-visual, and print messages to encourage the CTG to deflect, flee, or surrender. “It is important to translate tactical gains into strategic and moral victory to win the war,” said Lieutenant Colonel Herrera.
Getting into the minds of the enemy to influence their decisions was not all just a military strategy. Having viewed the CNTs as victims of their socio-economic circumstances and the CPP-NPA propaganda, the battalion took it as their moral responsibility to provide these people with a choice. They needed to make them see their options and provide a way out. For many CNTs, their perception of the hopelessness of their situations made them keep fighting despite having lost sense of their cause. They needed a way to escape from the claws of the CTG, which has held them for long through unkept promises, distorted views, and even threats.
The 53IB’s Project Good Life, E-CLIP, and the Legal Cooperation Cluster are opportunities the government provides under the ELCAC’s Whole-of-Nation Approach to the CNTs. These programs were made to reach the CNTs to influence their opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior. It should persuade them to surrender and start a new life with the support of the battalion and the government. The soldiers distributed E-CLIP leaflets in the barangays during community engagements. They organized a speakers’ bureau from the FRs to conduct loudspeakers operations during MBOs and place anti-insurgency-themed tarpaulins in areas frequented by the CNTs, their mass supporters, and couriers.
Conquering the World Wide Web
“Social media platforms have become an effective medium to capture the hearts and minds of the people.” — Lt. Col. Jo-ar A. Herrera
The Internet is a game-changer in the nature of modern warfare. How battles are won has dramatically changed with the arrival of the information age. In this information age, those who have access to or control of these systems have by far greater advantage in influencing public opinion, community support, and political decisions.
The 53IB explored the web and social media platforms in its information campaign. Their website and social media pages post images of their actual activities, engagements, and operational successes. They highlight their collective triumphs as well as the individual soldier’s contribution to the whole counterinsurgency strategy. Second Lieutenant Yu maintains and regularly updates the 53IB’s website and social media accounts. They increasingly penetrated the social media platforms through emphatic captions and powerful images and took the lead over the enemy in information warfare.
Ruling the Air Waves
“The people can easily give information by just texting the numbers I gave them during the radio program.”
— PFC Joven R. Batucan
Private First Class Joven R. Batucan and Private First Class Daniel Rey Solidum serve as radio broadcasters for the 53IB. They run a radio program every Sunday where they air recent significant developments and activities of the battalion. They also go live on 53IB’s social media platforms and gained a considerable following nationwide. More than providing public information, the radio program operations provide a mechanism for the people to give information about the enemy activities in their area.
The battalion has distributed transistor radios to fur-flung barangays during MBOs to access the radio program. “The people can easily give information by just texting the numbers I gave them during the radio program,” said Private First Class Batucan. “In the past, people run the risk of getting caught by the enemy when giving information. They fear for their safety, especially when they cannot trust those around them,” he added. This quick and easy way to send information through text has significantly demoralized the enemy and drove them away from the communities.
The radio program also airs interviews with some FRs where they are asked to talk about their atrocious experiences within the CTG. They also speak about the benefits they received from the government and the battalion when they decided to surrender and become part of the peace-building efforts. In many instances, they call out their former comrades to abandon the CTG and come back to the folds of the law.
Dissolving the White Area
The successful persistent Community Support Program White Area Operation (WAO) reoriented the CPP Affected Mass Organizations and the Left-Leaning Organizations existing in Pagadian City and Dumingag, ZDS. They were able to neutralize the key personalities in these organizations which finally stopped the rallies and the education and information activities in schools and universities. It also resulted in the eventual dissolution of the Regional Urban Committee or the White Area.
The RUC, WMRPC Executive Committee members were high ranking religious leaders in Pagadian City with members in different chapters in Zamboanga del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Zamboanga City. The RUC chapters were responsible for organizing massive disinformation dissemination and active recruitment in academic institutions to become future cadres and commanders of the CPP-NPA. They also facilitated the transfer of funds, supplies, and firearms to the CTG within these areas.
Intensified public information campaign and joint AFP-PNP intelligence operations led to the capture and surrender of the secretary of the RUC and the finance officer and chairman of Karapatan early in 2020. The other members of the RUC fled while others laid low, the same with the key personalities in the CPP Affected Mass Organizations and Underground Movements.
The dissolution of the White Area which was formally declared in November 2020 by the Joint AFP- PNP Intelligence Committee – Region IX had a huge impact on the morale and resources of the guerilla fronts operating in the region.
Encapsulation
When needed to fight, the 53IB has many times proved its ability to prevail in ground combat. Yet, bullets could win those battles but not the war. Winning indispensably requires optimization of the information element of the combat power.
Lieutenant Colonel Herrera has distinctly and consistently expressed his intent to free the province from the insurgency by complementing hard and soft power approaches. His intention formed the battalion’s compelling narratives in its information operations. It works not only by shaping the public’s perceptions but also those affected by military operations. It also serves as a guide for the troops to align their image, actions, and words. “Every soldier must know how to engage the people,” the commanding officer declared.
The soldiers’ attitude, behavior, and reputation necessarily contribute to the credibility of the battalion. Legitimacy sustains the legal and moral authority of their combat operations while their aligned and synchronized actions and messages create and convey the credibility of their narrative. Their effective information operations backed by strategy, legitimacy, truth, and unquestionable sincerity essentially catapulted them to success.
Author’s Note
The 53IB dominated the information landscape. It was crucial to control public perception to the success of their campaign. They were always ahead of the enemy to ensure that the truth reached the people first before the CTG could change the narrative to mislead them. Information space is the new battleground where influence determines victory.
In many aspects of our lives, we struggle with who influences whom. Influence is potent. It signifies control and power. Our ability to influence others make us achieve the most important things in life. It is a necessary skill that we can use constructively and ethically to advance our personal aims.
We may think that words are enough to sway people to our side. Maybe yes at the start, but not quite for long. Influence is not gained by mere empty words alone. Neither it is completely lost by misinformation. We gain influence by being true not only in what we say but also in what we do. Lasting influence results from time-tested integrity and high moral grounds. It is built on a foundation of trust.
Influence can be positive or negative. We have a choice on how we use our influence. With influence, we can either motivate people or manipulate them. That is why, we should also watch out for people who want to influence us. Let us not be easily swayed by phony words. We should be critical of what we see and hear. We should pay attention to how people present themselves and never take them at face value. In general, let us not be too quick to give anyone any power over us.
