“To find out what is truly
individual in ourselves,
profound reflection is needed;
and suddenly we realize
how uncommonly difficult
the discovery of individuality is.”
— Carl G. Jung
In the search for identity, the friends rescued became involved in terrorism in their youthful days. This long standing recruitment of youth to join radicalization leads us to probe: What is the psychological make-up of the youth? Why do the terrorist groups use them as a tactical advantage? And what do we need to know about their motivations including their strengths and vulnerabilities, to prevent the growth of terrorism?
Thomas Koruth Samuel, who authored Reaching the Youth: Countering the Terrorist Narrative, underscores those young people today who are increasingly becoming involved in terrorism.42 The geographical challenge and the evolving propaganda of terrorist organizations have created an impact on the involvement of today’s youth in terrorism. The CPP-NPA-NDF shows a high level of creativity and adaptability in exploiting geographical challenges, manipulating the innocence and motivation of the youth, and displaying adaptations of their organizations to meet the needs and desires of these young people.
In the Zamboanga Peninsula, the CPP-NPA-NDF created narratives to appeal to young people and painted a picture of an oppressive government. According to a recent debriefing and investigation following the influx of surrendered NPA terrorists in the 53IB in Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur, at least 13 were identified as being minors when recruited, ranging from 15 to 17 years old. The identified friends rescued admitted that the promise of bettering their lives bribed them to join the CPP-NPA-NDF.
Globally, the terms youth, young people, adolescent, and teenager are interchangeably used, connoting the same meaning under the puberty stage within the age bracket of 15 to 24 as recognized by the UN.43 While in the Philippine context, youth is defined as citizens aged 15 to 30.44
In Zamboanga del Sur, demographical data shows that friends rescued who surrendered to 53IB started joining the CPP-NPA-NDF during puberty or adolescent stage and others at their adulthood stage within the age range of 15 to 28.
It is true in the study indicated in the American Enterprise Institute’s Executive Summary series of May 2019, which states, “Young people are a vital source of support for many terrorist organizations, ranging from cooks to armed fighters. These young people enter extremist groups because they are trafficked, abducted, or physically recruited because of reasons such as group-based identity appeal; perceptions of alienation, grievances, or cultural threats; a promise of economic stability; and prospects of fame and glory.”45
The susceptibility of young people to terrorist recruitment can be affected by a wide range of factors, including their geographical proximity to the terrorist group, economic vulnerability, perceptions of social or political marginalization, exposure to permissive social networks, and exposure to radical propaganda.45
The relative value of these variables varies depending on the local context. Youth, both male and female, are often employed in support, recruiting, and fighting positions in terrorist organizations, although a substantially higher proportion of youth combatants are male.45
In the case of 42 friends rescued who participated in the Project Good Life Psychoeducation Program, the average age bracket when they were recruited falls between 15 to 28.
Described as “laid-back and curious,” Sonny, who wished to provide a better life for himself and his siblings, revealed that he was only 15 years old when the CTG recruited him and promised him a regular stipend in exchange for his participation in the group.
Sol, a non-aggressive and introverted young woman, was kidnapped and forced to marry a leader of the CPP-NPA-NDF when she was 17 years old. Her mother died when she was two years old, leaving her without a maternal figure. Her father found another woman. She was placed in the care of her grandmother despite her protests. For 18 years, Sol had been living in the mountains as a member of the CTG, embracing the ideology of the CPP-NPA-NDF. Despite being terrified and fearful, she learned to adapt to the norms of violence as her coping mechanism. According to Sol, part of the recruitment procedure is to exploit and entice the confused minds and hearts of the children and young people at the height of their emotional and socio-economic struggles within their family system.
At the height of the identity formation stage, the CPP-NPA-NDF recruiters exploited these financially and psychologically vulnerable adolescents. Many of the friends rescued were exposed to parental conflicts, marital separation, family feuds, and dysfunctional family systems within their teenage years, leading to risk-taking behavior that became apparent during their participation in the CTG as fighters.
In my objective observation, the said unresolved crises propagated the following variables that contributed to the surfacing risk-taking behavior, violence, and aggression of the friends rescued during their identity formation stage:
- absence of self-compassion and self-awareness, which steered low self-esteem and inferiority;
- dearth of self-efficacy fueled with poor living conditions;
- identity confusion rooted in an undiscovered sense of purpose and direction;
- need for belongingness; and the
- struggle to love oneself and other people.
- Hence, the risk-taking behavior and aggression were aggravated by the venomous philosophy and ideology of the CPP-NPA-NDF that espouses armed struggle and violence to achieve their political goal.
The need to expound on the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the young people joining the CPP-NPA-NDF is critical in understanding the springboard of psychological manipulation in terrorism.
In some cases of friends rescued, Darden’s investigations affirmed these findings, indicating that forced recruitment of children and young people aged 12 to 18. Sol confirms Darden’s research that young people joining the terrorist groups are “duped, trafficked, kidnapped, or forcibly recruited.”45 Sol was forcibly taken, being a minor, and coercively married to an NPA commander. She was helpless and was forced to go along with the wandering NPA group, walking day and night to go to far-flung barrios. Sol became a vital source of support for her communist terrorist group as a cook, laundry help, errand and servant to the commanders. She also became a medic and finance officer. But the ways the young people are recruited vary widely across contexts.
This is true in the Zamboanga Peninsula in Western Mindanao. Lt. Col. Herrera said: “In the guise of fabricated activism supposedly serving the marginalized sectors, the CPP-NPA-NDF has systematically agitated and sowed hatred in the hearts and minds of their young recruits.”74
The identity formation vulnerabilities of young people were utilized as tactical advantage to support the CTG activities in the employment of their goals, tactics, and strategies. These are the reasons why young people were easily exploited and manipulated by the CPP-NPA-NDF. Further, CTG recruitment gives a premium to this age group because of their aggressiveness, high state of idealism, and craving for identity formation.
Friends Rescued in the Context
of Human Development
in Search for Identity
Searching for one’s own identity at the age of 15 is difficult. Because of pressure, young people are drawn to the mystery of the purpose of individuality triggered by the people who take advantage of them. Because they want to feel like they belong, especially when they need to find a home, they succumb to the desire for understanding, but it turns out to be doom.
It was a Saturday morning in September of 2020 when it happened. The thoughts of Ron demonstrate a clear understanding of his current place. He is in Good Life Village, participating in a self-awareness session. I asked him three questions: how do you see yourself, how do others perceive you, and what does God say about you?” He looked a little taken aback and admitted that he did not know how or where to start his story. “It is difficult, and I am not sure how other people see me,” he continued, adding, “These are the types of questions that are difficult to answer because they are a test of a person’s awareness of one’s self.”
I gave him five minutes to ponder. I went back to him and asked him the same question again. “However, allow me to try,” he responded. “I am Ron, and I am a good person who also happens to be a good cook. Others see me as carefree, relaxed, and happy, but I consider myself as serious, angry, irritable, and unsatisfied with myself.” I was baffled by his forthrightness. After that, I allowed him to continue with his story of where he was coming from. He claimed that he grew up without his parents’ presence. He recalled a time when he was only seven years old and travelled alone to find his grandmother’s house, risking his life and his innocence in the journey of looking for a home. He was unsure whether or not he would make it to his destination. If he recollects his father’s words, “that yellow jeep is heading toward your grandmother’s house,” he believed it and took the scary way.
“I get to learn and experience all of the vices the world has to offer without the guidance of my parents. It was something I went through to sleep and escape from a troubled reality,” Ron disclosed. “One day, one of my friends convinced me to join the CPP-NPA-NDF with a promise of a better salary. Because of constant but warm-hearted pressure, I decided to join them and venture, thinking I would be able to hack better opportunities to have a good life with comrades whom I thought would help me find the right path amid my emptiness and hardships. I thought I was lucky for finding a family who could understand me and where I was coming from without judgment. They offered hope on a clear morning when they recruited me in the mining field. But, I discovered that it was a futile struggle. I became more angry and hopeless. I was stuck going in the wrong direction, where all they could offer was false ideology sown in my heart to overthrow the government and be powerful. That was a devastating history,” Ron explained.
Today, his classmates see him as a cheerful, responsible, and trustworthy friend as well. He understands his responsibilities as a student of the Project Good Life. And he is conscious of his sinfulness, but he is grateful to God for having freed him from the darkness of terrorism. At the core of my being, I know that God loves me because he has given me numerous opportunities to improve my life today and achieve my future goals through the Project Good Life, which Ron enthusiastically shared with us. In the program, he experienced a true sense of belongingness and genuine love from those around him, which compared his life with the CTG. “My bad habits, such as being lazy and always angry, have changed since I have been here,” Ron expressed. “I also discovered how powerful and loving God truly is. I figured out how to pray. I learned how to interact with professionals and even how to dress with decency,” he added.
Ron expressed gratitude for the opportunity to have a clearer view of his identity. Through this experience, he realized the importance of getting to know himself, the people around him, and the God who saved him from the wretched life he was exposed to.
During moments such as “Who am I?” one must confront oneself and begin to take the driver’s seat. Understanding one’s identity is so important during adolescence because their intellectual and emotional capacities begin to develop and embrace adulthood. They see how they are compared to others and realize that they possess unique individuality and identity distinct from others. Because of the dramatic physical changes that occur during puberty, adolescents become acutely aware of their bodies as well as the fact that others are reacting to them in new ways. Whatever the reason, adolescence brings about significant shifts in teenagers’ self-image and self-esteem, which, taken together, affect their perceptions of their own identity and self-worth.
The adolescent stage is observed to be a period of dramatic changes in body and behavior across cultures and millennia. From a human development perspective, the youth in the puberty stage experience rapid biological and psychological changes as part of the maturation process. Most people successfully transition from being dependent to becoming self-sufficient adult members of society while others remain unresolved or fixated.
Erik Erikson hypothesized in his Psychosocial Stages of Human Development that every human being encompasses phases and changes of interactions and understanding the knowledge of ourselves and others as members of society. Each stage has corresponding crises or conflicts that must be addressed sufficiently to deal with demands made during the next stage of development.31 For example, a child will develop a sense of trust instead of mistrust during the infancy stage if a maternal person or primary caregiver can provide appropriate environmental support. A sense of autonomy or self-sufficiency over shame and lack of independence is developed if exploration is encouraged. While a positive sense of competence over inferiority is formed if a child can master his or her skills and interest with the guidance of caregivers. These variables are precursors in forming identity among young adolescents. It means that awareness of the uniqueness of the self and knowledge of following the role is essential in making decisions. Otherwise, role or identity confusion will dominate if self-image is not developed. The inability to identify appropriate roles in life precedes delinquent behaviors among young people.
In the case of Ron, his ability to distinguish between other people’s points of view and his own represents a significant developmental step forward. His childhood self would have described himself as courageous and determined in the face of adversity and hardship. He joined the CTG at the age of 15 in the hope of ending his long-standing struggle, which he was promised to better himself and find more purposeful life with a group that provided him with a home-like environment.
Ron’s more expansive view of himself is one aspect of adolescents’ growing sense of self. He can see various aspects of himself simultaneously, and his view becomes more organized and coherent as time goes on. Adolescents view themselves from a psychological perspective, viewing traits not as concrete entities but rather as abstract abstractions.31
According to Erik Erikson, the search for identity invariably leads some adolescents to experience an identity crisis, which is accompanied by significant psychological turmoil.46 In Erikson’s theory of this stage (the identity versus identity confusion stage), teenagers attempt to determine what makes them unique and distinctive, a task they manage with increasing sophistication as a result of the cognitive gains associated with adolescence. Erikson asserts that adolescents are on a quest to discover their own strengths and weaknesses and the roles that will best suit them in the future. The process frequently entails “trying on” various roles or options to determine if they are a good fit for their abilities and self-perceptions. Adolescents go through this process of trying to figure out who they are by narrowing and making choices about their personal, occupational, sexual, and political commitments, among other things.
Erikson postulates that adolescents who do not find a suitable point of view may deviate from their intended path in a variety of ways. They may choose to act in socially unacceptable roles to express who they do not want to be. It may be difficult for them to establish and maintain long-term close relationships. In general, their sense of self becomes “diffuse,” as they are unable to organize themselves around a single, defining core identity. Those who create an appropriate identity, on the other hand, lay the groundwork for future psychological development. They come to understand and believe in their own unique abilities, developing a realistic sense of who they are. They recognize and are prepared to take full advantage of their individual advantages.46
During the identity versus identity confusion stage, there is also a great deal of social pressure. Adolescents like Ron are able to form close relationships with the armed group as a result of his increasing reliance on his comrades’ pressure in the midst of finding a more safe and secure shelter without being mindful of his risk-taking behavior.
In the study about adolescence on neuropsychology, linking brain and behavior, many behavior changes have been noted for young people, such as increased novelty-seeking, increased risk-taking, and a social affiliation shift toward peer-based interactions.47
The youth’s basic emotional desire of belongingness can be a crucial vulnerability that can be exploited by terrorist organizations if identity is not adequately established. On the other hand, the youth seek belongingness in the course of forming their identity to affiliate with and be accepted by an organization, including peers in school, workplace, and religious group.47
Looking back at the family history of Lito, he witnessed his mother’s traumatic death when he was ten years old. It was during his school-age when industry versus inferiority was the fundamental psychosocial conflict, and he wondered how he could be good and help his family. He should be preoccupied with school activities at that time. However, due to his mother’s death, financial constraints, and family distress, he could not participate in school activities. He had no choice but to drop out of school. At that point, his brothers began to instill in him the importance of seeking justice for their mother’s death. He even claimed to have heard his brother pleading with him to embrace the communist ideology. “They instilled hatred in me when I was emotionally depleted and low,” Lito said.
Erikson’s theory on human development emphasizes that, at the school-age stage, children attempt to cope with societal demands by asking themselves how they can please others. The motivation for children’s success is a sense of competence, whereas failure results in feelings of inferiority.
Lito was swayed to join the CPP-NPA-NDF when he was 17 years old. It should be noted that his decision to join the CTG was influenced by his siblings’ requests and his desire to be superior to his inner feelings of inferiority. In his mind, the desire to succeed in his claim for justice began when he was about to enter his youthful stage and eventually led to adolescence. The fundamental psychosocial conflict, according to Erik Erikson, is identity versus identity confusion at this phase. While social relationships and the search for a stable identity are important events, questions of “Who am I?” and “Where else am I going?” must be addressed to develop a virtue of fidelity. If left unresolved, it becomes a precedent to confusion and a lack of direction. Reflecting on the various crises of human development, we can see that young people must develop a sense of self and personal identity because resolving this conflict leads to the development of the ability to remain true to oneself, whereas failure at this stage results in role confusion and a weak sense of self.
Lito’s decision was more influenced by the resentment of his siblings than by his own free will. Along with the remorse and vengeance of the grief-stricken heart, Lito was emotionally and socially vulnerable at that time.
Was he able to have a sense of self? Was it his true identity? Was that his voice or someone else’s?
At 15, Jojo was already a youth leader in Ozamis City when his father died. He felt despair on hearing the bad news that their relatives had grabbed their land. Jojo said his life was exposed to hypocritical relatives who regularly went to church but did not “walk their talk.” Jojo harbored hatred in his heart through the years, even when he became a full-time CPP-NPA-NDF member. The CPP-NPA-NDF utilized his leadership skills as a tactical advantage to lead the MRGU in the Zamboanga Peninsula. Jojo translated his feelings of oppression into developing leadership competencies as he led numerous violent actions against government forces and the people of Zamboanga Peninsula.
REFLECTIONS
“The innocence of my youth that they took away at an early stage of my life has created scars of a lifetime.”
— Cha (friend rescued)
In a group process activity, I used the accounts of friends rescued with whom I spoke to demonstrate how young people’s vulnerability can be a tactical advantage in terrorism. It is noteworthy that identity formation is a beautiful yet crucial stage of human life. The opportunity to form our identity and learn to live in our individuality is an experience we cannot avoid while on our journey for life. The importance of genetics, the environment, and family to each young person and the interplay of these elements in the course of development cannot be overstated. Unless the caregiver provides more guidance, even the youth would be curious and perplexed like a wandering soul with nowhere to go until captured by manipulators and abusers who could drive them to their doom.
On the other hand, understanding the phenomenon of youth allows us to illuminate how beautiful and youthful days can be. As young people are fragile, they are intelligent. They are capable of possessing a genius-like intellect and making the world a better place. Believe it or not. They have inherent potential if we learn to uncover and provide them with the proper understanding of their passions and competencies. They are absolutely incredible! They are capable of thriving in ways that we cannot imagine. It is a stage that is both playful and colorful. Recalling your adolescent years, how did you become the person you are today? Are you whole or broken? Are you fulfilled or empty? Was it a pleasant recollection? The family that is available to you at that time must be the most valuable gift you could ever have. Our desire on belongingness drives us to seek secure human connections and long-term relationships with others.
Put them all together and take a cue from Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which illustrates our most fundamental psychological demands. The importance of belongingness, love, safety and security is all stressed in pursuing self-actualization. Regardless of whether someone is a former terrorist, a student, a client, or someone like you, a sister, a mentor, and a friend, every person has these needs that must be met on a daily basis in order to function properly. Biological or physiological requirements such as food, water, clothing, and sex to name a few, are analogous to this concept. Suppose someone has these physiological and psychological voids, for example. Because of the absence of parental figures and family guidance, the friends rescued did not meet fundamental yet essential psychological requirements. Young people who have not filled their love tanks or left the stages of human development unresolved are more vulnerable. Love bombing, building friendships, and cultivating trust are all first steps in manipulative strategies used by recruiters who see this as an opportunity for abuse or advantage. Then comes radicalization, which is the final step in the process of psychological manipulation.
With little consciousness and no ability to make judgments, the youngster who fled because of agony is captured, bringing a tremendous amount of physical and mental strength to the situation. As a tactical advantage, the strengths and shortcomings of young people are exploited. An expert manipulator or groomer will take away a victim’s self-reliance and uniqueness over time until the victim can no longer be identified. In any case, as I have already indicated, that person has the chance to recover their true identity. To heal oneself, one must look back at one’s past unresolved issues. To listen to one’s own voice, having self-awareness and self-compassion, and forgiving themselves and others can be a good start for resilience and redemption.
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