It is my honor to be one of the speakers for this Third International Conference of Muslim Leaders. For this, I would like to convey my sincere appreciation for this given opportunity to share with you your Marine Corps’ contribution in support to the government campaign for peace.

This topic deals with the direction we are currently heading in order to address, in our own way, the issues and problems affecting the peace, stability and security not only in Muslim communities but in all the areas of deployment of your Marine Corps

Marines are plain warriors by tradition, but confronted by the complexities of our internal security problems, we have deftly adapted to the peculiarities of the operational conditions and have reengineered our soldiery roles especially in the fields of civil-military operations.

The Philippine Marine Corps is presently in the midst of a radical paradigm-shift in the way it is conducting its internal security operations.  This was aptly enunciated in a public pronouncement of a senior marine officer during a recent Sulu Peace and Order Council (POC) meeting who said, “Under my command, it is 15% intelligence-driven combat operations and 85% CMO thru inter-agency partnership and developmental efforts.” 

The military, being the primary peacekeeping agency is often considered as the single entity that can address and promote peace, stability and security.  But internal security problems are not simply a military concern as these disturbances to peace and order are merely symptoms or physical manifestations of deeper societal problems that cause these events.

In the Philippine context, there are six distinct dimensions that significantly affect our lives, namely:  military, political, socio-economic, cultural, environmental and informational.   Each of these dimension is not isolated but rather interconnected with each other.

Each dimension has its respective problem that collectively contributes to our internal security problems.  Their dynamics result to what we have in the society.  Lasting solution to internal security problems entails sustained interventions that are multi-dimensional in nature participated by all the stakeholders.  

Carl Von Clausewitz, a historian and a renowned military theorist in his treatise, “On War”, describes what he calls a “Fascinating Trinity”. He describes societies as a trinity composed of the government, the armed forces, and the people. Both in times of peace and war, this trinity of stakeholders must interact with each other.  A strong foundation of these three is an indicator of a strong society, with peace and order being developed as long as these stakeholders mutually support each other.

Through this concept of a trinitarian society, interventions through multi- stakeholder dialogue, partnership and collaboration can be undertaken to fill the gaps toward peace, stability and security. It is along this line that in addition to its primordial military task of confronting the enemies of the state, the corps has expanded its role in civil-military operations (CMO) by building and transforming relationship with the local government and the people to address the root causes of internal security problems.  

Through CMO, marines shall serve as catalysts and bridges for multi-stakeholder processes to resolve societal inequities and divides through dialogue, partnership and collaboration. With this, social innovations and new arrangements – concrete solutions that solve the divides – help bring about a new, co-created social reality that result to peace, stability and security in the communities. This united front building activity for the common good strengthens the trinity that in turn builds a stronger society and alienates the enemies of the state from the civil society.

In line with this new concept of internal security operations, marine units pursue six (6) lines of operation that correspond to the six (6) societal dimensions that affect our ways of life, namely:

(1) Military operations to promote peace and order;

(2) CMO to facilitate good governance;

(3) CMO to promote socio-economic well-being;

(4) CMO to promote cultural cohesiveness and harmony;

(5) CMO to promote sustainable environment; and

(6) CMO to enhance public information.

It should be noted that out of these six (6) lines of operation, only one (1) line uses military force. If ever there is a need to use military force, it should be conducted with an intelligence-driven and precise combat operation to neutralize key enemy groups and personalities with minimal collateral damages and disturbance to civilians. Gone are the days of large and prolonged sweeping military operations that only do more harm to civilians than the enemies of the state.

Nowadays, a marine is not only a warrior, but a bridging leader, facilitator of good governance, facilitator of socio-economic development, peace builder, conflict manager, environmentalist and information specialist as well.  They lead the way to peace and development in the communities.