Success in the Shadows

Dr. Stentiford presents a relatively solid overview of a unique and arguably successful case of foreign internal defense largely overshadowed by more prominent COIN operations in various locations such as Western Asia. My primary concern with this book is that while the successes seen from OEF-P in Basilan and Jolo are encouraging, the confirmation of “substantial progress in the theater” (p. 99) and reflection of “why OEF-P succeeded” (p. 103) seem slightly premature. Although viewing from hindsight, the tidiness of the success of OEF-P in 2015 and/or the brevity of time required to see true permanent progress may be overstated in this book. The period discussed covers up to 2015, and the book was published in 2018. At the time of publishing, Dr. Stentiford presents the possible JSOTF-P success of “reduc[ing]...violence to the level of a chronic law enforcement issue rather than a serious challenge to [Philippine government's] legitimacy and sovereignty” (page 90).

However, western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago continue to see significant violence from 2015 to the present date, and US forces are still involved in the region although their presence tends to be hidden from publicity. High profile incidents like the 2015 Mamasapano incident involving the MILF and BIFF which left 44 PNP members dead, the 2016 Battle of Tipo-Tipo against ASG in Basilan which left 18 AFP members dead, the 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombing, and the tens of thousands of displaced indigenous personnel from these incidents seems to typify an ongoing conflict as opposed to a “chronic law enforcement issue.” Most notably, the well-known 5-month long siege of the city of Marawi in 2017 by breakaway members from the MILF and ASG who pledged allegiance to IS indicates a clear and direct threat to legitimacy and sovereignty in Mindanao.

In addition to my primary overarching concern, the book could have also used some proofreading. Place and person names appeared to be often incorrect, unless I'm just not aware of applicable alternate spellings (I searched for these to no avail, but I welcome feedback to the contrary). Additionally, some place names were correct but very obsolete. While I can forgive a few typos, the overall sloppiness made me start questioning objective facts in the book. Examples:

Place Names:
- Page 4 refers to the famous battle of “Bud Datu” during the Moro Rebellion of the early 20th Century. While Bud Datu appears to be an actual location on Jolo Island, I don't know of a famous battle there. However, “Bud Dajo” (alternatively “Bud Dahu”) was the location for two very well-known battles between Americans and Moros in 1906 and 1911.
- Page 42 refers to the municipality of “Tururan” in Basilan, which I believe should be “Tuburan.” I could find no mention of Tururan anywhere. Out of the 13 municipalities/cities and their respective 210 barangays, I could only find the municipality of Tuburan.
- Page 49 refers to the Sultan of Sulu as the Sultan of “Sulo.”
- Maps on page 51 use outdated place names (the entire second map on this page is also physically distorted in its representation of various countries):
– Balimbing (municipality on Tawi-Tawi which was renamed Panglima Sugala in 1991).
– Celebes (old Portuguese name) instead of Sulawesi.
– Indochina (last used in 1950) instead of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
– Formosa (last used in 1945) instead of Taiwan.
– Batavia (last used in 1942) instead of Jakarta (additionally, the location marked for Batavia isn't even in the correct location).
- Page 66 incorrectly refers to a “Tamantaka River” near Cotabato and then three sentences later it is referred to correctly as the Tamontaka River.
- Page 69 lists “Malamavi” as an island near Basilan. The island being referred to is actually “Malamawi,” and the misspelling is made even worse by the correct spelling of it in the map on page 68.
- Map on Page 68 is also labeled incorrectly like the map on page 51:
– The Batanes (or Batan Islands) are mislabeled as the “Babat Islands.”
– The city of Baguio is mislabeled as “Bagulo.”
– Legazpi is labeled as “Legaspi.” From what I can find, Legazpi was named after Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, so “Legaspi” should be incorrect.
– Bongao Island is labeled as “Bongoa Island” (which is then spelled correctly as “Bongao” on page 79).
– Masbate Island is labeled as “Visayan Island.” It is a part of the Visayas, but generic regional labeling is inconsistent with the specificity of the other labels on the map.
– Masbate City is labeled as “Mastrato.” I couldn't find mention of “Mastrato” in any municipality on Masbate nor in any of the 550 barangays.
– Cagayancillo labeled as “Cagaya Island.” Cagayancillo used to be known as “Cagayan.”

Person Names:
- Page 86 refers to President Benigno Aquino III as “Benito” Aquino.
- Page 95 refers to the French king, King Philip IV as “Phillip IV.”

Other Minor Mistakes:
- Egregious typos that made sentences confusing, such as “reMost” (p. 3), “recestanding” (p.4), and “effots” (p. 49)
- Dates of “Operation Ultimatum” are listed as Aug 2006 – Apr 2007, whereas the source referenced (US Special Operations Forces in the Philippines, 2001-2014 by Linda Robinson) lists August 2006 – October 2007 (p. 52)