"Besty known in the USA as a former colony and exotic tourist attraction, the Republic of the Philippines has seen civil unrest, insurgencies and separatism movements since independence in 1946. ... While previous publications have discussed human rights issues, the Huk Revolt of the 1940s and 1950s, the military unrest in the 1980s, and the socio-political structure of various rebel movements in the Philippines, this is the first major work excvlusively covering the military history of the Philippines in the 70 years of independence. The insurgency of the Huks, and early Moro separatist rebels, the Moro and Marxist revolts against Marcos' dictatorship, and the counter-terrorism operations of recent times, are discussed in relation to the transformation of the military threat and the corresponding transformation of the AFP, from a conventional military, towards the deployment of elite forces and extra-judicial means to suppress a series of revolts which have threatened the integrity of the state."--Back cover.

Cover title.

Abbreviations -- Prequel -- Huk revolt -- Arming for the wrong war -- Communist and Moro uprisings -- Corruption, incompetence and poverty -- Counting coups -- Never-ending wars -- Pursuit of terrorists -- BIFF, back to the past -- Conclusion -- Selected bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- About the author.