Below is the second in a series of People Power articles from Ken Tee. The first article, “Joining the COIN Family – People Power’s Journey from Concept to Reality”, can be found here.

In this People Power article, I will delve into the 3 Factions in the game, namely the Government, the Insurgents (both NPA and Moro), and the Reformers. For all of them, I will start with their backstories and then expand their function in the game through their Operations and Special Activities. Although the game title suggests an emphasis towards the Reformers, I’ll  begin with the Government, being the main antagonist (or even protagonist, depending on your point of view).

The Government Faction

Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.

You cannot picture the Government without placing Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, at the forefront of this entity. Elected in 1965 and reelected in 1969, he was the first President that won reelection (which had only been repeated by the daughter of the president who was unseated by him decades later), and later continued to rule by declaring martial law in 1972. He declared a state of emergency, using a high crime rate and rising communist activity as his pretext. Marcos went on to create a virtual police state, imposing curfews, forcing newspapers and other forms of opposition to his rule to go underground or face the consequences.  Many arrests were made, and  opposing political leaders (including Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.) were sent to prison on charges of sedition and rebellion. His iron-handed rule was in many ways like so many other world dictators operating in the shadow of the Cold War, touting their anti-communist credentials and using their alliances with American policy-makers to prop themselves up and enrich themselves and their circle of associates. Yet, there was a flip side as well, as there was a genuine undertaking to enhance the image of the Philippines abroad and through both improving public works and developing a certain cultural aspect of both beauty and refinement, mostly embodied by the First Lady.

Government Operations. In formulating the Government’s operations mixture while adhering to the general standards of the COIN series, I had to reflect both this hardline as well as a “soft” dictatorship approach. Without giving too much detail (because terms as well as mechanics may yet change a bit), I want to present the Operations and Special Activities for the Government faction in terms of their purpose as well as their role in the conditions at the time of their historical implementation. Most COIN players will recognize TRAIN and ASSAULT. The former, like most governments conducting counterinsurgencies, reflects the need to train new soldiers, establish a military or police presence, then use that as a focal point to spread law and order, or at least some form of political action to promote obedience (if not loyalty). ASSAULT, of course, is direct military action involving army and/or police against insurgents both in the urban and rural areas. I’m introducing two new operations:PROBE and ROUNDUP. These act in a similar way to some previous Operations in the COIN series but with a different intention and somewhat different effects. Both provide the Government with the intent of moving their forces and exposing their enemy to confront them once identified (or activated in game terms). PROBE is an anti-Insurgent operation only, as using it will cause Reformer Activists to deactivate. The picture here is that this is a preparation for an armed assault and therefore will cause the Reformers to actually conceal themselves and not add to the violence. ROUNDUP is the opposite, as this Operation is focused on revealing Reformers and not Insurgents, which will also result in some Activists being removed from the game board. The narrative here is that an investigation or a series of investigations have brought charges against certain groups or individuals; some have confessed and exposed their compatriots to interrogations and even incarceration.

Government Special Activities. In designing Government Special Activities as well as the other faction’s, I had opportunities to inject even more flavor for players and offer them a glimpse to the state of affairs in this era. To that end, I’ve introduced the Government Special Activities of INFLUENCE, ARREST, INTIMIDATE, and CHARM. Like the word says, INFLUENCE is just that; it is swaying a particular populace to give up particular assets for the benefit of the government’s own financial needs, or even to fill up the coffers of their cronies and allies. This means that popular Support is being sacrificed for capital gains and even Patronage. ARREST is just as direct; it is the removal of an Insurgent or Activist piece, except that this Special Activity will cause loss in US Aid, as such a deed would have caused some form of criticism and also US government repercussions. INTIMIDATE is also self-explanatory, as it sets a space to Support if the space is under Government Control (due to either an overwhelming military presence or even political clout). Finally, CHARM is the opposite of INTIMIDATE, as it removes Government pieces and receives Support and even Patronage in that manner. One historical example is the promotion of autonomy in certain Muslim areas in which both civilian and military personnel were removed to allow a peaceful transition of government. Another example is the role of the First Lady, who went on several campaigns by herself, relying on her sophistication and charm to boost public morale and Filipino pride, without the need for the military’s intimidation.

The Insurgents Faction

Both insurgencies had been active even before Marcos was sworn in as President. The progenitors of the NPA were the Huks, who began as an anti-Japanese guerrilla pro-communist organization during World War Two. They had virtually ceased to exist during the mid ‘50s upon the surrender of their leader, due to reforms and successful anti-guerrilla operations assisted by the CIA. In 1969, the NPA was formed, and a revitalization of communism ensued. Communist insurgents were a thorn in the side of the Marcos regime, and for all succeeding governments. The other group represented in the game’s Insurgents Faction is the MNLF. The Muslim independence movement in the Philippines originated in 1968, and grew over the following years. In 1972, the MNLF was created as a response to the Jabidah massacre. This was an incident in which Muslim trainees were murdered (with no explanation from the government) while preparing for a military operation, resulting in a backlash of Muslim resentment against the government

Insurgents Operations and Special Activities.  I knew that the Communist and Moro insurgents behaved like most insurgencies, but historically, I wanted each to have its own distinct features. I did this by allowing them to share the same Operations, but having separate Special Activities. The Operations need no introduction to the seasoned COIN Insurgent player: RALLY, MARCH, ATTACK and TERROR. Both the NPA and Moros used all of them in their fight against the government, both militarily and politically. Two slight differences from other COIN games, though, are that an ATTACK can also be used against the Reformers, and any MARCH along islands is limited to one Guerrilla only.

The four Special Activities are divided in half with two each available for the NPA and Moros, respectively. The NPA have TAX and INFILTRATE, while the Moros have NEGOTIATE and EXPEL. TAX is a method of increasing Resources for the Insurgents (though the NPA and Moros didn’t quite share their treasuries, but for the sake of simplicity and expedience, they are combined in People Power), but at the cost of losing Resistance. The Insurgents do get a choice whether it goes to Support or Opposition. INFILTRATE operates in much the same way as it does in previous volumes, in that they cause the enemy forces to defect. One difference here is that defecting government forces remove Patronage as well as well as gaining Resources. The Moros did not function in that manner; they were not about converting people to their cause, but rather maintaining their own cultural identity. They had financial backing from pro-Muslim countries such as Libya and Indonesia. NEGOTIATE is one way they can achieve their ends, by removing Government Bases and perhaps replacing them with their own. EXPEL is primarily an anti-Reformer deterrent, which mimics the anti-Catholic movements that the Moros saw as an invasion of foreign “carpetbaggers.” This represents what was sometimes mere intimidation, other times very violent expressions of hatred, and will allow Insurgent Resistance to replace Reformer Opposition in a Moro (Insurgent) controlled space. If Resources are spent, it may also eliminate a Reformer Base. One caveat about the Insurgents is that when activating them, they cannot activate together in a space, so that means if a location has both NPA and Moros (most likely, somewhere in Mindanao), only one bloc can be activated. But that also goes the other way, meaning they can only be fought one bloc at a time.

The Reformers Faction

Prior to the Aquino Assassination, martial law had been lifted in 1981, mostly due to the need to show the world (the IMF and for the Pope’s visit) that steps were being taken to put the country back on the road to democracy (or at least the appearance of it to suit political ends). Since the declaration of martial law, the political parties united only in opposition to the government were largely ineffective in their methods, such as boycotts and even appeals to certain American government officials. The brutal murder of Aquino changed all that.  His death, whether by the hand of the communists or the government, gave his allies an opportunity at first to express their grief and sorrow. This quickly turned into disgust and frustration, until finally, spurred on by an economy in distress, it erupted in outright anger and justifiable condemnation of the powers that be. Yet, I personally remember that the hostility had to be contained to a certain level, as there was still the fear of a possible violent retaliation from the government or the expected uprising from insurgent forces, which could take advantage of the situation to do serious harm.

The Reformers Operations and Special Activities. With that in mind, I knew there had to be a balance of sorts in mixing the Reformers faction’s Ops and Special Activities, due to the concern that arose about reactions from the opponents of the Reformer faction. Together with the fact that at the time, I was introducing a non-violent element into the series with no template to gain inspiration from, this was my most challenging phase of the design, as I strove to keep it simple and also consistent with the COIN system. Reformers Operations are RECRUIT, ASSEMBLE, ADVOCATE, and PROTEST. Frankly, they are tasked like their factional counterparts; so they will be utilized to place pieces on the map board, gather them together, remove or replace enemy forces, and to build Opposition. As they are a non-violent faction, their operations aren’t as strong as those of the other factions. This is especially true for ADVOCATE (their Attack/Assault), because removing enemy bases can actually result in the placement of third party pieces (but not Bases). So, for example, if a Government Base is removed, it is replaced by Insurgent Guerillas.

For Special Activities, the Reformers will rely on APPEAL, TRAVEL, CONVERT, and CANVASS. APPEAL is the Reformers’ primary way of receiving Resources. It is dependent on how many Reformer Bases are on the map and a die roll to see how much is taken in. TRAVEL is another process of receiving Resources in one function by returning Activists to the holding box, but also can be used to move to different spaces that are not as limited by the Assemble Operation. This is how the Reformers have a greater flexibility in moving pieces around the map compared to the Insurgents. CONVERT can replace enemy Bases with Reformer bases, as long as there are no other pieces in that space except Reformer pieces. Finally, CANVASS (along with Protest) is how Reformers shift to Opposition. While the Protest Op is used against spaces in Support, Canvass is useful against spaces in Terror or Neutral. One can see how the Reformers used their movement, which was derived from a growing dissatisfaction with the corrupt and ineffective regime as well as concern of a left-wing uprising, to achieve their ends. With assistance from the Catholic Church, growing political momentum from opposing leaders, and people from many walks of life (the rural poor, the neglected middle class and influential entrepreneurs and businessmen and businesswomen who finally had enough), they took a stand to constantly proclaim their message of hope, democracy and freedom.

These are the tools used to achieve victory conditions for each faction. To win the game:

• The Government needs a combination of Support and Patronage
• The Insurgents need Resistance and Population Control
• The Reformers require Opposition and more Bases than their adversaries.

With the information provided above, I hope players can deduce the best way to win and have some sense of history as they do it. It is noteworthy to me that each historical faction still plays a role in today’s Philippines. The current government, though not as dictatorial as Marcos, has had its share of controversies regarding abuses of power. The Reformers were able to replace the Marcos regime, but have also had their own accusations of dynastic hierarchies as well as governance issues. Last but not least, the NPA and Moros continue to create chaos. After 9/11, more attention was given to the latter, with the threat of Islam-inspired terrorism given more emphasis. One can observe and claim that it seems nothing really has changed since the 1980s, but for a brief moment in time, change happened. And it is that story that People Power: Insurgency in the Philippines, 1983-86 wants to share.

Author: Kenneth Tee