Crisis in the Philippines

The Philippines has mostly stayed out of the spotlight in modern history. In the 1980s, the country was engaged in a large scale insurrection by the Communist Party of the Philippines in the northern sections of the island of Luzon. This conflict had been ongoing since the late 1960s, prolonged by both the Soviet Union and elements from South America that would eventually form the FSR.

After the destruction of both the Soviet Union and the United States, The Philippines suddenly found itself without a sponsor but the CPP still supported by South America. A peace conference was able to end the fighting and formally adopt the CPP as an official party into the government. While it was rocky, the country was able to right itself and avoid a full scale civil war from breaking out.

However, because of South American and US operations during the Cold War, the drug trade exploded, uncontrollable and volatile in some asian countries. The Philippines was one of the hardest struck, due to its location as a drop off and shipping point. This lead to an increase in crime and drug addiction in many of the poorer areas of the country.

This was further worsened by the influx of fleeing Islamic radicalists from the Middle East. For years the country had dealt with the issue of the Moro Muslim population attempting to fight back against resettlement and removal from their lands in the Mindanao region. This exploded further as terrorist elements began training and inserting themselves into the Moro Muslim Liberation Front(MMLF). This has been a back and forth conflict with no winner on either side. The problem got worse as former ICN fighters also began fleeing Africa and began supporting the movement, ushering a new bloody chapter of the war.

In 2022, the Philippine Democratic Party(PDP) won the presidential election. Becoming increasingly ultra nationalist, the new president, Joriz Fajardo, declared a war on the Drug Gangs, Drug Users and Terrorists in the country. He authorized the extra judicial killings of those believed to be using drugs and drug gangs. This has lead to bloody, barely legal raids and mass killings. The CPP has called this a war to eradicate the homeless , poor and those who criticize the state. The PDP states that the CPP are just slaves to the South Americans and should not have been given a seat the government. Despite his efforts, Fajardo has been unable to ban the CPP but the CPP has been unable to remove Fajardo in office.

The killings have caused the CPP's to rise in popularity, especially in northern sections of the island of Luzon. However the PDP has it supporters as well, mostly those in the lower sections of Luzon, most of Visayas and the hardest hit areas of Mindano. This is because lower Luzon and Visayas are the hardest hit by the drug gangs and addiction, while Mindano has been constantly plagued by bombings and shootings by the MMLF.

Many of the smaller political parties are rallying around the CPP or PDP. Not because of shared ideals, but because of fear of what will happen if the other gets full control of the country.

The country is officially unaligned but this may change in the near future if things get out of control. Its been rumored the CPP is rebuilding its guerilla army and has some supporters in the official army as well, many of these people who are fleeing government sanction Death Squads, which have been kept out of CPP stronghold areas. The PDP has also been accused of buying weapons, stealing weapons from Drug Gangs and even attempting to push Drug Gangs towards the upper part of Luzon to further enforce the presidents agenda. In Mindano, the MMLF is gaining strength as former ICN and ICC fighters arrive and bring weapons as well as experiences and threaten the lower island as a whole.

The nation is on the verge of a catastrophic civil war and it may just take one spark to ignite it.