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1 What is Bantay Bayanihan?

The Bantay Bayanihan (BB) is a civil-society led initiative that aims to create an oversight body over the armed forces, including defense and security policies (strategic, tactical and operational levels).

The Bantay Bayanihan is envisioned to be a dialogue space that brings together civil society organizations, the academe, civilian government units (whose services have direct bearing on conflict formation and peace building), and the AFP.

Box 1.1 Tracing BB’s Origins Bantay Bayanihan (BB) was launched last November 29, 2011 in order to pursue two parallel objectives:

To serve as an oversight body to monitor the implementation of the AFP’s Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) Bayanihan

To serve as a dialogue space where issues of peace and security (that directly / indirectly involves the AFP, PNP, and LGU) can be openly discussed

Photo taken during the Round Table Discussion (RTD) with Security Sector Agencies, May 18, 2012

Photos above taken during the Dumaguete BB Orientation

“Only when a shared

concept of security is formed

can responsibilities be

shared. “

- IPSPBayanihan

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similar to the spirit of Bayanihan,

Bantay Bayanihan’s success is hinged on the participation

of relevant units concerned

Box 1.2 Roles and Functions of Bantay Bayanihan

To serve as a venue/ direct channel between and among relevant units to raise issues as regards

the IPSP implementation, HR and IHL issues, as well as the peace and security concerns and/or needs of local communities (e.g. rebel returnees, PAMANA, CCT recipients, strengthening of the peace and order councils/ POCs etc)

To conduct periodic evaluation and/or validate evaluation studies as regards the implementation

of the IPSP-Bayanihan

To provide recommendations to the Chief of Staff (national level) / Commanding General (unified

command/ division/ brigade level) in the implementation of the IPSP

To generate concise policy recommendations as regards peace and conflict dynamics, as well as

security reforms, to be submitted/ presented to the respective peace and order council (local executive) and sanggunian (local legislative), as well as to the national-level cabinet security cluster (executive) and Congress (legislative)

To promote the BB to other potential partner stakeholders

To catalyze, facilitate and most importantly, institutionalize the active partnership of civil society

Photos taken at (1) Bacolod BB Orientation and (2) 2nd Quaterly BB National Meeting, UP Hotel

Source: Bantay Bayanihan Terms of Reference (TOR)

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Why involve civil society?

“History’s pages abound with accounts of how we Filipinos have always sought—and worked for—peace. Peace is indeed a continuous aspiration of the Filipino people... We acknowledge that there remain structural issues that need to be addressed and reforms that must be made. This is exactly what your government sets out to do. However, the ills confronting our nation are multi-faceted and complex. These can never be addressed through raising arms and wielding force against our democratic way of life as a nation. In the same vein, we recognize that a purely military solution will never be enough to adequately address these issues. As peace and security is indivisible, efforts towards these must be shared by all. .. This is why we are engaging all stakeholders in peace and security. It is only by working together can we find creative solutions that work…. I believe in the Filipino’s capacity to bring sustainable and meaningful peace and security to our land. I shall lead our quest for peace and security. I call on the entire Filipino citizenry to roll up our sleeves and pitch in. Let us join the AFP in translating this national aspiration to reality.”

- His Excellency Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III President, Republic of the Philippines

Message in IPSP Bayanihan

The participation of civil society groups and the academe in Bantay Bayanihan is crucial because

Civil society organizations help facilitate the

political participation of the marginalized segments of society, and hence have the capability to act as enablers of human security and development.

The academe on the other hand helps in

framing the agenda, i.e., by bringing the specific (sectoral/geographical) issues within the broader discourse of development; and translate the technical discourse to popular language understandable to sectors.

While the Bantay Bayanihan is focused on the AFP-IPSP plan, it will naturally highlight issues and concerns regarding peace and conflict dynamics in localities. The success of the initiative lies on the strong engagement of civil society groups, especially in the local-geographical areas.

Civilian government agencies are also vital in the Bantay Bayanihan because

People’s perception of deprivation and

radicalization of dissent are largely influenced by the limited government services delivered in conflict-affected areas. Hence, a strong partnership between the military and key service delivery units can significantly help curve the level of dissatisfaction of the people.

A strong collaboration – especially in the

operational level between the civilian government and the military can help ‘capacitate’ civilian units to allow them to handle local peace and order problems (and reduce the reliance on the military).

A strong synergy in operations between the

military and civilian government units can generate concise policy recommendations as regards peace and conflict dynamics, as well as identify the demands for security sector reforms both on the local and national levels.

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Photo above taken during the IPSP Annual Assessment Conference

May 30-31, 2012 at SDC, ADMU

Areas of Concern of Bantay Bayanihan

HR / IHL / ROL

Performance of AFP troops in HR / IHL / ROL areas

Transparency and Accountability

Monitoring the processes and systems to ensure that violators are punished and good deeds are rewarded

Participation

A. AFP engagement with civilian units / organizations, e.g. Peace and Development (Barangay) Teams of the battalion, brigade and company units

B. Treatment and management of “surrenderees”

Peace and Conflict Dynamics

A. The “fuels” and “drivers” of conflict

B. Spoilers of peace

SSR and Development

Addressing the institutional and policy gaps to create a legal and social atmosphere that can contribute in the peace negotiations and in mitigating the cycle of insurgency, impunity and underdevelopment

Source: Bantay Bayanihan Framing April 24-25, 2012

Photos below taken at (1) the NOLCOM (North Luzon Command), in Tarlac (2) the 3rd Infantry

Division with Lt. Gen. Emmanuel T. Bautista, CGPA and (3) Camp Bud Datu, Jolo.

Need for a Critical but

Constructive Engagement

Note: The term “Bantay Bayanihan” is the working name, but local groups can rename their group as they see fit. What is crucial is to appropriate the essence or spirit of the Bantay Bayanihan in forming the network / dialogue forum.

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Bantay Bayanihan activities

The Bantay Bayanihan is to conduct activities that aim to mainstream Security Sector Reform (SSR) among the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), and strengthen the capacity of local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to conduct SSR civilian oversight.

Box 1.3 Security Sector Reform Security Sector Reform (SSR) means transforming the security sector/system, ‘which includes all the actors, their roles, responsibilities and actions—working together to manage and operate the system in a manner that is more consistent with democratic norms and sound principles of good governance, and thus contributes to a well-functioning security framework. The groups that form the Security Sector are:

The Armed Forces

The Police

Intelligence

Border Management Services

The Supporting Institutions— Oversight

Bodies such as Congress, justice and penal systems, non-statutory security forces and civil society groups.

A core objective of SSR is to reform the security sector institutions so that they are transparent, respectful of rule of law and human rights, and accountable to democratic civilian authority, such as the parliament and the justice system. In this regard, SSR is an important component of peace-building, democratization and development.

Civil Society Organizations

Armed Forces of the Philippines

Dialogue Partners

Non-government orgs (NGOs)

J3 (Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations)

J7 (Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations)

J2 (Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence)

CRS (Civil Relations Service)

HRO Rep (Human Rights Office)

JAGO (Judge Advocate General’s Office)

Peace and Development Center

Government Agencies

Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)

Commission on Human Rights (CHR)

Department of National Defense (DND)

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)

Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)

Department of Justice (DOJ)

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

*Note: List is not exhaustive

Academe Media

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