Introduction

Terrorism and organized crimes evidently have real and direct impact on

individuals and communities. They undermine the basic and fundamental human

rights without any regard (Proca, 2016). The devastating consequence of these

activities become ubiquitous in the country especially in the areas where the trends

and challenges continue to cripple and enfeeble the current national and local

policies and strategies like in the instant case of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region

of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) which has become the seat bed and central to numerous

terror attacks and organized crimes in the country recent years. Terror- related

violence like bombings, extortion, kidnapping, illegal drug activities, human

trafficking have worsened and escalated in different localities in the ARMM and in

addition to these individual costs, terrorism and organized crimes destabilize and

weaken local governments, emasculate civil society, jeopardize peace and security,

and threaten the social and economic development of the region (Loredana Pianta,

2017).

There are several policing systems that are operational in the Region in view of

the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Law or the Human Security Act of 2007. One

of which is the 3-Tiered Defense System which is now operational in the BARMM.

No less than the PNP chief Director General Oscar Calderon through the PNP

spokesman, Senior Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao said the 3-TDS must be

implemented and enforced in the local levels in order to prevent terrorist attacks.

This anti-terror measure involves heightened intelligence, target-hardening and

incident management. The heightened intelligence refers to the deployment of more

intelligence agents to monitor movements and activities of suspected terrorists while

the target hardening means the case build-up to gather harder evidence against

suspected terrorists. On the other hand, the incident management will be activated in

the event of a terror attack to help and assist victims and others directly affected by

the incident (Barcena, Manuel, 2014).

However, the implementation of the policing system poses an enormous

challenge to implementing agencies in view of the limitations provided for by law.

The efficacy and success of the programs on counter terrorism are put into question,

now that despite all the efforts by the law enforcers, the terrorists are still able to

operate and continue to recruit more members in the Region. With all these in

present, proponent of the study prompted to assess the policing system in the BARMM

in order to develop a policy which may improve the policing programs in the Region

against terrorism.

Background of the Problem Situation

Description of Problem Situation and Severity of the Problem Situation

The role of the 3-TDS is critical in preventing terror attacks in the BARMM. Its

implementation brings upon optimism to the government that terror plots and attacks

may be abated. The policy was however put into test when an armed conflict broke

out in the City of Marawi, known as the Marawi Siege. The battle for Marawi began on

May 23, 2017 when the Philippine military tried to capture Isnilon Hapilon, the head

of a southern militia that has pledged loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But
the army met fiercer than expected resistance. Allied with another pro-ISIS brigade

called the Maute Group, Hapilon’s fighters took a priest and his congregation hostage,

freed prisoners from the local jail, and overran the city. More than three weeks later,

the fighting persists, hundreds have died—militants, soldiers, civilians—and hundreds

more residents remain trapped in the city. As residents seek safety, much of Marawi

has become a ghost town. Almost 10 years have passed after the enactment of the

Anti-Terrorism Law and the implementation of the 3-TDS and yet, the government of

Marawi City was caught off guarded and unprepared to neutralize the situation. There

was failure of intelligence by the government in discovering and ascertaining the

terror plans of the armed groups and there was no mechanism that was put in place in

order to manage and respond with the crisis situation.

Outcomes of the Prior Efforts to Solve the Problem

A closer look with the implementation of 3-TDS, the surveillance of the

suspected terrorists and the monitoring of their movements and terror plans remain

to be one of the most difficult challenges that the law enforcers are now facing in

view of the limitations imposed by law. According to the former PNP Chief, now

Senator Panfilo Lacson, the Philippine version of Anti-Terrorism Law is one of the

weakest in the laws in the world because it does not give room for the law enforcers

to intensify their efforts in building a clear case of terrorism against the suspected

criminals and effect the target hardening of suspected terrorists in the country. The

weakness of the law transcends to the policing programs that are now being

implemented in the BARMM through the 3-TDS. Gen.Carlito Galvez, Armed Forces of

the Philippines chief of staff, lamented that the 11-year-old measure “does not really
help security elements do their job.” Citing a clear example was the case Isulan

bombing incident were the suspected terrorist bomber was apprehended by the

government forces. But because of the weakness of the law, the bomber was able to

secure a bail for his immediate release which in turn, resulted to the waste of the

efforts by the government troops in capturing hardened criminals and terrorist

members.

Assessment of Past Policy Performance

The government is keen on thwarting any terror attempts in any part of the

country. With the advent of the passing of the Human Security Act of 2007, the

government was finally able to institutionalize efforts to combat the global challenge

of terrorism. In this regard, the PNP responded with the creation of 3-tiered defense

system in order to improve intelligence, surveillance and monitoring of suspected

terrorists and their plots. The implementation of the 3-TDS led to the declaration of

Abu Sayyaf group as a terrorist in view of the guidelines provided for by law. But,

there is nothing much that the law has contributed to the prevention of terror attacks

in the BARMM (Manila Bulletin, 2008).

Significance of the Problem Situation

The terrorism and organized crime activities unmistakably devours upon any

effort of the government to improve the socio-political and economic situation in the

ARMM. The result is obvious as the consequence of these activities affect the farmers,

business establishments, investors, peace and security and most especially, to the

way of life of every citizen living in the region. Hence, the urgency of the situation
demands that the problem be addressed as soon possible in order to control the

impact of these crimes to the lives of many citizens in the region who are directly

affected by its devastating consequence.

Specifically, the policy is deemed significant to the following:

Philippine National Police (PNP). The policy will help the law enforcement

agency to develop an integrated and responsive policing system that will address the

terror crimes in the country. The proposed policy may also be used by the law

enforcement agency to revisit and reexamine its existing strategies and measures so

that efforts to counter terror activities may be aligned to improve the response of the

law enforcement against these crimes.

Local Government Units. The policy will help the local government units

develop an effective monitoring and responsive counter-terrorism strategies being the

positioned in forefront of a terror situation. This may also help the LGU to create an

anti-terrorism panel or committees at the local level to fight the war against

terrorism through efforts to adopt and implement their local public safety plans that

involve regularly providing information to the authorities pertaining the presence of

suspicious persons and activities in their respective communities. The policy may also

press the necessity of strengthening the barangay as the basic political and economic

unit.

Need for Analysis

It must be stressed in the study that there is a constant need to examine and

consider the proposed policy in order to meet the constitutional scrutiny of its
validity, otherwise, it may just be set aside for being contrary to the fundamental law

of the land. A policy cannot go beyond the language of law and must be consistent

with the intent of the letter.

The adaptation of well-known and recognized policing systems must also

conform to the standards and practices set by the different respective law

enforcement agencies. There is no attempt for diminution, much less to derogate an

accepted policing standard. The study aims not to depart from well-known policing

models but to integrate and harmonize, those that may be are of good use and

consistent with the policy direction and eliminate those which may be deemed

unnecessary and immaterial to the cause.

Problem Statement

The study aims to assess the counter-terrorism policing system in the BARMM in

order to develop an effective and efficient counter-terrorism policing system with the

application and adaption of well-known and recognized policing systems. In

particularly, the study seeks to answer the following question:

1. What is the operational context of the BARMM regarding counter-terrorism?

2. What are the counter-terrorism policing system initiatives done by the PNP in

the BARMM?

Review of Related Literature

Neo-Realism Orthodox Theory

The Neo-Realism Orthodox approach focuses its analysis on the legitimacy of

the state system in view any challenges to the authority of the state as illegitimate
threat that must be contained. Orthodox approaches offer a clear distinction between

the state and non-state actors and posit that state is legitimate and non-state actors

are illegitimate forces. Orthodox approaches to understanding terrorism tend to focus

on the type of violence employed and how to counter it not why it occurs. Orthodox

approaches as a state-centric paradigm which is usually regarded as mainstream

approaches because it is rooted on the modern model of freedoms, the rule of law

and the liberal democratic state. The theory argues that the state is the key actor or

primary agent and there is no actor above the state. Second, governments are

engaged in a constant effort to ensure the survival of its respective state. And third,

that the pursue must its national interests, the most vital being national security

(Kenneth Waltz, 1979 ).

The fundamental principles of policing remain as valid today as they were

hundred years ago: keeping the peace, enforcing the law and protecting the property.

While these principles remain central to any society, the nature of society has

evolved and changed, altering bot the challenges facing police forces around the

world, and the mechanism available to combat those challenges (Poschor-Depayso,

2017).

Public expectation has grown; improvements in customer service across both

and public and private sector have resulted in higher citizen expectations. This

enhanced expectation is coupled with an increase in the diversity of roles the police

are expected to perform, especially as some other areas of public service retrench

back to the provision of core services. The environment in which the police operate
has also grown more complex, with continuous news coverage creating a new level of

instant transparency and scrutiny (R.M. Shusta, et.al. 2011).

Community-based Policing. Community policing is one of the best known and

certainly the most widely adopted police innovations. The recent research suggests

that close to 100 percent of larger agencies claim to have adopted community

policing (Reaves, 2015). Community policing spans a broad range of programs from

neighborhood newsletters and neighborhood substations to foot patrol and

neighborhood watch.

Neighborhood watch programs vary in their level of police involvement, but

police are often important in the initial organization and coordination of watch

groups. Community policing definitions typically focus on the important components

that characterize many programs: some level of community involvement and

consultation; decentralization, often increasing discretion to line-level officers; and

problem solving (Eterno, J., &Das, D.K., 2010). Because community policing is focused

on close collaboration with the community and addressing community problems, it has

often been seen as an effective way to increase citizen satisfaction and enhance the

legitimacy of the police.

Police legitimacy is important to consider because of the importance of police

trying to maximize their fairness and citizen perceptions of the legitimacy of their

actions. Tom Tyler’s research focuses on procedural justice in police-citizen

encounters as the key antecedent of legitimacy (J. Tyler, 2004).

 Neutrality is a key element of procedural justice. Citizens tend to view a

situation as fairer when officers are transparent about why they are resolving a

dispute in a particular way. Individuals want to be treated with dignity and respect.

Citizens are more likely to view an interaction as fair when they trust the motives of

the police. Citizens will view the action taken as fairer if the officer shows a genuine

concern for the interests of the parties involved (Delfem, M., 2011).

Survey and observational research generally suggests that when officers

incorporate these components of procedural justice into their interactions with

citizens and suspects, citizens are more likely to comply with police directives and

the law because they see the police as more legitimate. These increases in legitimacy

thus have the potential to reduce crime by increasing compliance behavior, although

no studies to date have examined this issue directly. More research, however, is

needed on this topic, as no research to date shows that a police intervention focused

on increasing procedural justice (e.g., a training) is associated with reduced crime or

increased compliance behavior (Nagin & Telep, 2017).

The connection between legitimacy perceptions and compliance behavior

suggests a possible link between community outreach efforts that increase levels of

legitimacy and reduced crime. As observed in one of the studies, it found out that the

capacity of police legitimacy to prevent crime is something community policing may

well be effective at creating (Sherman and Eck, 2002). For example, door-to-door

visits by officers seem to be an effective approach for both increasing citizen

satisfaction and reducing levels of victimization. It was also found out that efforts by

police in a target neighborhood in Houston to initiate more positive, informal contacts

with citizens led to lower rates of victimization (Wycoff, Pate, Skogan, and Sherman,

1985).

The program focused on the quality of police-citizen interactions. Aspects of

community policing can be combined with other successful interventions in ways that

may increase their overall effectiveness. In one case, it was described that a

community-oriented approach to hot spots policing focused on community

consultation on the tactics used in hot spots and efforts to ensure that hot spots

policing strategies do not damage police-resident relationships (Braga and Weisburd,

2010). And to note the specific observation, the study suggested that dealing with

hot spot locations in a collaborative and transparent way has great potential to

improve police-community relations and enhance overall police legitimacy.

Another study by some prolific security managers, was conducted to make a

systematic review and examine the impact of community policing on crime and

disorder, fear of crime, legitimacy, and citizen satisfaction. Their results suggest a

small impact on violent crime, a nonsignificant impact on property crime, and a small

effect on fear of crime. Thus, community policing is only weakly related to reducing

crime, at least in the short term, which is why we have not listed community policing

under the idea of what really works for reducing crime. Community policing was

associated with larger, significant positive benefits for citizen satisfaction, perceived

disorder, and police legitimacy (Gill, et.al., 2014).

Community policing programs, therefore, may be one way for the police to

incorporate principles of procedural justice into their interactions with citizens and as
a result improve police-community relations. Based on its process model, it could be

the case that community policing has a small impact on crime in the short-term, but a

more substantial long-term positive relationship through increased levels of

legitimacy and satisfaction, although future research is needed on these linkages.

These enhanced citizen perceptions of police legitimacy may contribute to increased

compliance with the law and reduced crime (J. Tyler, 2004).

Again, as noted above, these linkages have not been tested in intervention

research to date, and so it is difficult to reach any strong conclusions about the

relationship between community policing and long-term crime reduction. In a related

systematic review, it was examined that police interventions designed to enhance

procedural justice and increase citizen perceptions of police legitimacy (Mazerolle,

Bennett, Davis, Sargeant, and Manning, 2013). They focused on interventions that

incorporated at least one component of procedural justice such as in the case of

participation, neutrality, dignity, respect and trustworthy motives. Their findings

suggest the promise of police efforts to enhance legitimacy, although their review

covered a range of studies, most of which included multiple kinds of interventions,

making it difficult to disentangle the specific impact of procedural justice. There was

evidence that these interventions increased citizen satisfaction, cooperation, and

levels of procedural justice. The overall effect of these programs on perceptions of

legitimacy was large, but not statistically significant, indicating variability across

studies. The impact of these interventions on reducing reoffending was also mixed

(Mazerolle, Antrobus, Bennett, and Tyler, 2013).

 While community policing programs are one way to incorporate procedural

justice into policing, they are not the only possible approach. As an example, if found

that even brief procedurally just police-citizen encounters during random breath

testing for drunken driving could enhance citizen perceptions of police legitimacy.

Findings here, however, are inconsistent, as a study using a similar intervention in

Scotland found positive impact of the procedural justice intervention (MacQueen &

Bradford, 2015).

Finally, a study looked specifically at the effectiveness of neighborhood watch

programs and found overall that neighborhood watch is associated with a significant

crime reduction, suggesting further crime control benefits for this type of community

policing program. Prior narrative reviews of the literature were less supportive of the

benefits of neighborhood watch programs, but found that the programs were

associated with a crime reduction of between 16 and 26 percent (Bennett and

colleagues, 2008).

Evidence-based Policing. This policing system states that officers, supervisors

and command staff should not only be armed with the right equipment, knowledge of

the law, proper procedures, and defensive protection, but also have as much

knowledge about what tactics and strategies work best to fight crime so that they can

make good decisions while patrolling or carrying out investigations (Bennett and

colleagues, 2008).

In the past, police training has been focused mostly on procedures, the law,

physical skills, and use of equipment. Rarely were police trained in the large body of
knowledge about "what works" in crime control and prevention. Evidence-based

policing also centralizes the role of crime analysis in everyday policing. By

understanding how crime geographically and temporally clusters, as well as which

environmental and situational factors can attract opportunities for crime, police can

become more effective in addressing the specific crime, disorder, and traffic

problems they face. The bottom line: Police need to take advantage of the knowledge

about what works to improve police efforts in crime control, community relations,

and internal management, as well as generate knowledge and analysis within their

agencies to improve their ability to prevent and reduce crime (P. Sherman, 1998).

In evidence-based policing, officers should use tactics and strategies that have

been shown to be effective in reducing, preventing, controlling, and detecting crime,

doing as little harm to people as possible. Many patrol tactics have already been

evaluated through reliable, rigorous analysis. Some tactics and organizational

practices work better than others in preventing crime, improving officer health, or

improving community satisfaction with the police. There are a number of

generalizations from research that officers can apply in many different settings to

improve their overall effectiveness (M. Haberfeld, & I. Cerrah, 2008).

The police, like many organizations in education, medicine, social services, and

emergency response, may not always use information about the most effective tactics

when making decisions. Sometimes knowledge from research fails to become

translated or disseminated into everyday police practice. In some cases, information

may not be available about whether a particular police tactic is effective, or whether

a useful tactic might also have collateral consequences (Mazerolle, Bennett, Davis,
Sargeant, and Manning, 2013). For example, many traditional investigative strategies

that police have used for years have not been tested for their effectiveness in

reducing crime or improving clearance rates.

There are also organizational cultures and systems that reinforce approaches

and styles of policing that are less effective but are ingrained in police work. These

define the police role as a focus on responding to calls and making reactive arrests.

Although we now know that these two activities alone may not reduce, prevent, or

control crime, these systems are fixtures in policing and are difficult to change. In

these modules, we only cover research related to crime control and prevention, but

officers should note that there is research on many different aspects of policing,

including improvement of community and citizen relationships, internal management,

disparities and discretion, police technology, shift length, and how officers can

improve their physical and mental well-being (Dempsey, J.S., 2008).

PESTEL Analysis

A P.E.S.T.E.L. analysis is an acronym for a tool used to identify the macro

external forces facing an organization. The letters stand for Political, Economic,

Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. In a policy development, before any

kind of strategy or tactical plan may be implemented, it is fundamental to conduct a

situational analysis. A policy direction that successfully monitors and responds to

changes in the macro-environment is able to endure and tolerate competitive

advantages and benefit from an analytical perspective, the points of view of the

factors that affect the policy creation and development.

 This analytical method may help the proponents in dealing with the different

factors that affect the policy development in order to create a more responsive policy

that addresses the trends and challenges of terrorism and organized crimes in

Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

Political Factors. These determine the extent to which government and its

actions may impact the policy direction. This would include political policy and

stability. In policy development, political factors play an important role the in its

inception and implementation. A policy requires strong linkages, relations and

associations with the different stakeholders so that a more cohesive and unified

approach may be developed. In a counter-terrorism policing development, the

coordination between the local government and law enforcement agencies must be

strong. It is also incumbent upon the local government to adhere to an established

policy so that any change in political structure would not result to disintegration and

collapse of a policy already in place.

Politics and terrorism are very much interrelated. Terrorism is generally used

to try to influence political behavior in some ways. It forces the opponents into

conceding some or all of the perpetrators demands, to provoke an over-reaction, to

serve as a catalyst for a more general conflict or to publicize a political or religious

cause, to inspire followers to emulate violent attacks, to give vent to deep hatred and

the thirst for revenge, and to help undermine governments and institutions

designated as enemies by the terrorists.

 In the ARMM, the political structure is diverse since there is the traditional

politics, where the elected local government officers run the political government

and the tribal or ethnic and religious political system that are also present and active

in the same geo-political territory. Because of this, it is important to consider the

different political systems that are in place to ensure participation and involvement

by these systems to the success of a policy.

Economic Factors. These factors impact on the economy and its performance,

which in turn directly impacts on the policy creation and its economic sustainability.

Factors include the capacity of the government to support the implementation of

projects and other initiatives that require fiscal and financial support, employment of

personnel both uniformed and non-uniformed in organizational administration and

field operation, as well as other costs for the overall implementation of the policy. In

the case of Marawi City, over 200,000 residents, 80 % of its populace fled the city and

sought refuge to the nearby cities and municipalities after the war broke between the

government forces and the local terrorists. This displacement resulted to the collapse

of the economic activities in the same locality. The foreign investors also shied away

from investing in the ARMM because of the civil unrest. Because of this, the local

government is paralyzed to implement fiscal reforms that would ensure success of any

policy.

In the development of a counter-terrorism policing system, it is equally

important to consider the economic factors in order to determine its feasibility and

success. The policy development must relate to the capacity of the local government

to support it with fiscal reforms necessary to carry out the programs.

 Social Factors. These factors focus on the social environment and identify

emerging trends. This helps will proponents to further understand their needs and

wants moving forward towards the successful implementation of the policy, including

its sustainability and acceptance by the society.

Terrorism is socially a very broad concept. The role of typology is to subdivide

the field into categories which are more manageable for research and analysis. One

basic distinction is between state and factional terror. There is of course a very

considerable historical and social science literature on aspects of state terror. In view

of the sheer scale of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and mass terror that have

been and are being committed by regimes, this is a more severe problem for humanity

than the containment and reduction of factional terror by often very tiny groups. And

it is important to observe that historically, state terror has often been an antecedent

to, and, to varying degrees, a contributory cause of, campaigns of sub-state

terrorism. And once regimes come to assume that their ends justify the means they

tend to get locked into a spiral of terror and counter-terror against their adversaries.

Another important distinction is between international terrorism, involving the

citizens of two or more states, and domestic or internal terrorism which confines its

activities within the borders of a specific state or province. Terrorism analysis based

entirely on international incident statics cannot provide an accurate picture of world

trends in terrorism because it excludes well over ninety percent of terrorist activity

around the globe. A further complication is that almost all prolonged domestic

terrorist campaigns have an international dimension. In most cases their leaders

expend considerable effort seeking external sources of political support, cash,

weapons, safe haven, and other useful assets, from friendly governments and political

movements as well as from their own diasporas. No broad categorization can do full

justice to the variety and complexity of the modern phenomena of terrorism but a

comprehensive review of the social science literature on terrorism reveals abundant

evidence of currently active groups involved in terrorist activity motivated by

nationalism, separatism, racism, vigilantism, ultra-left ideology, religious

fundamentalism, millennialism, and single-issue campaigns.

Technological Factors. These factors consider the rate of technological

innovation and development that could affect the policy development. Factors could

include changes in digital or mobile technology, automation, research and

development. There is often a tendency to focus on developments only in digital

technology but may also include innovations od traditional methods which may only

require further enhancement and application of new technologies as to make them

more relevant and adaptive to the changing environment.

In recent years, Western governments have come under sharp criticism for

their use of surveillance technology. They have been accused of sweeping up massive

amounts of information without evidence of the technologies being effective in

improving security against terror activities. In particular, modern approach in

addressing the trends and challenges of terrorism have been brought increasingly

under public scrutiny, with proponents arguing that it increases security, and

opponents decrying its invasion of privacy. Most people naturally assume that the

technological changes that influence terrorism are those involving weapons or

explosives. If terrorists have made the occasional use of chemical weapons or a

hijacked plane, the vast proportion of modern-day attacks use technology that, in its

essentials, is not new. What has changed beyond recognition are the media that

enable individuals or groups to disseminate their message. As media organizations

evolved, so did terrorist ones.

The first and most basic capability, access to the internet, has changed the

way individuals radicalize and plan attacks. On the radicalization side, online

platforms offer more opportunities to become radicalized and accelerate the speed

with which radicalized individuals mobilize. Once radicalized, terrorist used the

internet for communication and operational planning. Second, end-to-end encrypted

messengers—like some of the most popular social sites afford their users privacy by

scrambling data sent from the sending device, through the cell tower and server, to

the receiving device. In terrorist applications, these encrypted messaging services

allow for unprecedented operational security, limiting law enforcement's ability to

view or disrupt these communiques.

Environmental Factors. These factors relate to the influence of the

surrounding environment and the impact of ecological aspects. With the rise in

importance of environmental sustainability, responsibility which are becoming more

important.

There is a growing trend that terroristic acts tend to pursue unlawful use of

force against in situ environmental resources so as to deprive communities of their

benefits or destroy other property. It has been observed among terrorist groups that

there is a trend towards huge bomb attacks on city centers, the trend towards mass-
lethality attacks, and the trend towards attacks designed to inflict massive damage on

national economies, either by bombing key financial and commercial districts or by

attacking vulnerable key sectors. Similarly, eco-terrorism is the destruction of

property in the interest of saving the environment from human encroachment and

destruction. More concisely, environmental terrorism involves targeting natural

resources. Eco-terrorism involves targeting the built environment such as roads,

buildings and trucks, in defense of natural resources. Other analysts may fail to

distinguish between these different threats but evidently, these environmental

terrorismw are present in the ARMM.

Legal Factors. A policy must comprehend what is legal and allowed within the

territories of which it operates. It must also be aware of any change in legislation and

the impact this may have on policy direction. Factors include relevant statutes,

executive orders, standing administrative orders and policies, safety and security

regulations, as well as international regulations and restrictions.