An Exploration of State Authority in the Philippines

My research focuses on the international causes of ungoverned spaces in weak states. Although there are numerous reasons why states leave broad swathes of their territory without effective governance, the role of international politics has been overlooked. My dissertation identifies the harmful impact that neighboring enemy states have on state authority near state borders. The purpose of my field work in the Philippines was to shed light on the causes and consequences of subversion, one of the two mechanisms through which external interference harms state authority. The Philippines provides a unique opportunity to study the politics of external interference from the perspective of a state that was both an instigator and target of subversion with respect to its neighbor Malaysia. The Philippines was also a useful case because it does not appear in the sample of countries I examine in the cross-national statistical analysis chapter of my dissertation. Thus, this trip allowed me to build on the existing strengths of the dissertation through the selection of a case and research methods that would complement the statistical evidence in the project.

In the field, I conducted archival research and interviews. The poor relations between Malaysia and the Philippines are in part a consequence of a territorial claim the Philippines advanced on the Malaysian region of Sabah. I sought to understand the motivations underlying this claim on Sabah, and to understand what options were available to the Philippines to resolve this claim before it turned to (an ultimately failed) attempt at subverting Malaysian authority in Sabah. I was quite fortunate to receive a comprehensive set of historical primary source materials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, which will be invaluable for shedding light on the conditions under which a state may choose to engage in behaviors short of war to interfere with its neighbor’s sovereignty. I also interviewed current and former government officials. These interviews were primarily concerned with understanding the ways in which Malaysia’s support of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) - a group claiming to represent the interests of the Muslim Moros - in the southern Philippines affected Manila’s ability to administer and control the affected regions. My preliminary conclusion regarding this second question is that external support was critical for transforming the MNLF into a viable fighting force. The interviews suggested that external support was critical not only for embolding the rebels, but also for providing much-needed arms and sanctuary that allowed the rebels to become a serious threat to the Philippine government’s authority in the south. 

The interviews also helped provide important background information on the conflict from the perspective of Muslim and non-Muslim Filipinos. While Westerners and security experts sometimes characterize the conflict as a religious conflict between Muslims and Christians (which implicates Malaysian involvement as motivated by religious ties) Muslim Filipinos told me that the problems in the south were never about religion, but instead about land and culture. Religion provided a means to mobilize the population, but was not itself a cause. This view is consistent with my understanding of Malaysia’s reasons for supporting the MNLF: religion provided cover for Malaysian involvement that was largely driven by geopolitical concerns and the Sabah claim.

The Abbasi grant was essential for my field work in the Philippines. One of the challenges I faced in the Manila was the problem of transportation. Metropolitan Manila is extremely large and difficult to navigate, with limited public transportation. Consequently, I hired drivers in order to reach university libraries and various interviewees. The Abbasi Program Student Grant thus helped make it possible to interview individuals that I would not have otherwise been able to meet.