30 ex-NPA rebels undergo debriefing in Agusan del Sur
By Saghir Hussain ·
Thirty former NPA insurgents walked out of the jungle in Agusan del Sur this week, and the UK should sit up and take notice.
What the UK can learn from Agusan
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that thirty ex‑NPA rebels completed a six‑day deradicalisation programme in Agusan del Sur before being formally reintegrated into civilian life. It’s a modest‑scale effort, but the fact that the government is actually putting resources into turning former combatants into shopkeepers, teachers or taxi drivers tells us something about the limits of a purely security‑focused approach.
Back home, successive UK administrations have struggled to deliver similar programmes. The Home Office’s “Prevent” strategy, for all its good intentions, has been criticised for being too top‑down and too reliant on surveillance rather than genuine community‑led rehabilitation. The Agusan model shows that a short, intensive course followed by real‑world support – housing, a job, a community network – can begin to undo years of indoctrination. If the UK wants to curb the radicalisation that fuels extremist pockets in Manchester, Birmingham or even rural Wales, it must look beyond the police‑led raids and start funding the kind of on‑the‑ground reintegration that the Philippines is now piloting.
The cost of slow retraining
Automation is changing jobs faster than retraining can keep up, a point I’ve made many times in these columns. The ex‑rebels in Agusan are being given a chance to learn new trades – carpentry, agriculture, basic IT – that are in demand locally. In the UK, the same story plays out in the north of England, where factories are closing and the promised “green jobs” are still a distant promise. The government’s recent “Skills for Jobs” budget is a start, but the rollout is sluggish, and the average person on the ground sees little change.
Compare that with the rapid rollout of the new London pedicab ban, which came into force on 4 November. It’s a regulatory tweak that will affect a handful of drivers, but it shows a willingness to act quickly when public safety or consumer confidence is at stake. The same urgency is needed for the thousands of workers whose jobs are being displaced by AI‑driven logistics firms and automated warehouses. If we can legislate on pedicab fares overnight, why can’t we fast‑track funding for vocational retraining in the regions that need it most?
Why this matters for Britain’s own security
The Philippines’ de‑radicalisation effort is not just a humanitarian gesture; it is a security measure. By pulling former insurgents away from the jungle and back into society, the risk of a resurgence of armed conflict drops. The UK faces its own “home‑grown” threats – from far‑right extremism to Islamist radicalisation – and the longer we wait to offer credible pathways out, the more fertile the recruitment ground becomes.
In the UK, the cost of living crisis is biting harder than ever. Households are seeing energy bills soar, and small businesses are fighting for survival. When people feel they have no economic future, the lure of extremist narratives grows. The Agusan experience suggests that a combination of economic opportunity and structured de‑radicalisation can be a powerful antidote.
So, what does this mean for us? It means the UK needs a clear, locally delivered plan that pairs short, intensive deradicalisation courses with tangible job prospects – not just vague promises of “future employment”. It means local councils, not just Westminster, must be given the resources to design programmes that fit the communities they serve.
Is the UK ready to learn from Agusan, or will we keep watching the world move ahead while our own communities stay stuck in the same old cycle?