Domestic security vs. external security: The Philippines at another crossroads

There is absolutely no doubt that the Philippines today is facing a dual challenge that goes beyond ordinary governance.

- AMBASSADOR B. ROMUALDEZ

On the one hand, an endemic corruption scandal has shaken public confidence in our institutions and provoked public outrage. On the other, there are external forces that seek to exploit our vulnerabilities, amplifying instability in hopes of changing the country’s political direction to serve their own interests. These domestic and external threats cannot be separated; they feed into each other.

Corruption has long been treated as a governance or economic issue, but today, it has become perfectly clear that it is also a national security risk. What is considered the most widespread corruption in government and the betrayal of public trust has sparked volatility and anger. When people see those in government as having no accountability, when public funds are abused and wasted and when justice is perceived as absent, the very legitimacy of government is weakened. That loss of public trust is extremely dangerous to national stability in much the same way that insurgency or terrorism threatens peace and national security.

Internal security, therefore, must be understood more broadly than just simply police and military power, but about sustaining legitimacy. Corruption undermines that legitimacy, and in so doing destabilizes the domestic order that national security depends upon. This is because corruption destroys the trust of the people in government, generating deep-seated resentment at the thought that billions of pesos that should have gone to health, education, basic services and food security were diverted to the pockets of these heartless corrupt officials, legislators and contractors.