By Dr. Greg Cochran, ICC Fellow

The book of Proverbs features a wise father pleading with his son to walk in the path of righteousness and avoid the way of evil. This father’s directive originates from an ontological perspective deeply rooted in both the Bible and humankind. Humanity is capable of evildoing. Despite cultural imperatives to the contrary, the sober wisdom of the Proverbs remains practical today: Evil never sleeps. Therefore, those on the side of righteousness must consciously guard their steps. 

Of the human propensity toward evildoing, the book of Proverbs says,  

“For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;  

they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.  

For they eat the bread of wickedness  

and drink the wine of violence” —Proverbs 4:16-17, ESV 

Evil feeds upon violence. For evildoers, violence is bread. Bloodshed is wine. Evil has no life in itself. Therefore, it must feed on the pretense of possessing the power of life and death over others, controlling them through the fear of death. This dynamic defines the pulse and heartbeat of terrorism. In this dynamic, the grave task of governing authorities emerges, underscoring the gravity of the government’s power of the sword. Governing authorities must rule in righteousness and punish evildoers.  

How is such a grave task possible? How is it possible in a pluralistic society to provide stability between individual human rights and the enforcement of singular ideas of good and evil? Christians understand that God’s righteousness provides the answer to the question. Follow God’s way of right ordering, and human beings will flourish. While true, this solution exposes a potential flaw in pluralism: Everyone cannot be right. There is a right way and a wrong way. Governments must reward the one and oppose the other.  

On the merely human plane, differing worldviews clash concerning where to draw the lines between good and evil. Disparate groups will clamor for power to establish the lines based on their own desired outcomes. In the worst-case scenario, the book of Judges repeats itself — everyone does what is right in his own eyes. In many contemporary scenarios, the outcome looks more like the Philippines.  

Why use the Philippines as a contemporary case study? Demographics. The first reason this country serves as a model relates to this article’s opening directive: walk in righteousness because evil never sleeps. According to recent demographic data, the population of the Philippines exceeds 116 million, with more than 88% claiming to be Roman Catholic, Protestant, or some other self-proclaimed form of Christianity. One would be hard-pressed to find a nation more thoroughly infused with Christian thought and action. Thus, if a government ought to be aware of righteousness, it should be the Philippines. But evil never sleeps. It cannot rest. It has no Sabbath. Does evil or good prevail in the Philippines?  

Even a cursory review of news stories and political research will display uncomfortable truths about the current state of Filipino affairs. Governing authorities are accused of corruption and abuse, especially in the red-tagging of political opponents. Marxists and Communists sponsor violent rebel groups, particularly in Mindanao and the southern islands around it. Roman Catholic nuns have been charged with aiding these groups. Thus, observers can see that strong Christian influence provides no guarantee that righteousness will always prevail. If righteousness will prevail in the Philippines, then rulers must continuously fight the good fight. Otherwise, they will wield their power in vain.  

A second reason the Philippines serves as a good case study is this: the government. If a government wishes to wield power with purpose (not in vain), it must renew its commitment to justice daily. This commitment to true justice acts as a detergent, extracting dirty politics and corruption. This daily recommitment to righteousness helps clarify which forms of opposition constitute free speech and which constitute a genuine threat to democratic ideals like freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. Such a government would be righteous. Is the government of the Philippines righteous?  

The official governing documents of the Philippines promise to safeguard Western democratic values such as free speech and the free exercise of religion. These are righteous values. Opportunistic groups push the limits of the law, beguiling idealists into accepting violence in the name of free protests. Yet the government has the law on its side, establishing a right guide to navigating the vagaries produced by these sometimes-violent political groups. There are many violent groups in the country: The New People’s Army (NPA) and The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). These groups have persisted for decades. Though the laws themselves are righteous, the government’s results so far have not established righteousness. Violence and unrest persist.  

Some violent groups direct their actions specifically against Christians or other religious people. As a result, members of the House of Representatives passed a more comprehensive “Magna Carta of Religious Freedom Act” in January 2023. Since then, this bill has been meandering through the Senate at a snail’s pace, expanding and contracting. So far, the bill has been under debate in the House and the Senate for more than three years.  

Senator Joel Villanueva sponsored the bill in the Senate. His sponsorship letter demonstrates his belief that the current law is insufficient to address the violence plaguing the Philippines. His letter closes with this declaration:  

“This measure also aims to promote a free market of religious ideas in the country where no religion is suppressed or quelled over the other. By leveling the playing field for the propagation of different religions, Filipinos are afforded the full spectrum of varying faiths and the freedom to choose the beliefs that they will subscribe to. This, in turn, will counter religious fanaticism, which gives rise to many societal problems in the country.”  

Having a law is good. Perhaps having a more comprehensive law is better. But comprehensive law or not, the effectiveness of such laws depends entirely upon the character of the politicians and enforcement officers who police and enact the law. No government is immune to this reality. Government demands both legal statutes and righteous authorities who follow and enforce them. Will governing officials stay alert, establish righteousness, and put a stop to the advance of evil?  

Third, the persistent presence of terrorism makes the Philippines a case worth watching. In terrorism, the face of violence looks increasingly interested in the Philippines. Increasing terrorism in the southern Philippines (in particular) and in the region of Southeast Asia more generally proves the wisdom of the Proverbs. Evil never rests; it re-forms and re-emerges.  

Scholars debate the degree to which militant Islam influences governing policies in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Mindanao region of the Philippines. But a consistent narrative is forming around the idea that ISIS, while appearing to be dying in Iraq and Syria, is instead finding pockets of retreat and reinvigoration in Mindanao and Southeast Asia. The evil of terrorism mutates and metastasizes but never rests. 

Charles Hill writes in harmony with the narrative that the Islamic State group (ISIS) is growing its presence in Southeast Asia. On the rise and increase of Islam in the region, Hill says:

“This appears along a scale of seriousness from new levels of political concern to the reality of enhanced tensions and violence from west to east along an archipelago of national territories from Thailand’s Isthmus of Kra, down the Malaysian peninsula into Indonesia’s Sumatra, Java, and eastern islands, and up into Mindanao in the Philippines. Taken together, indeed with Indonesia alone, these lands hold by far the largest Muslim population in the world.”  

Alert to the danger, Australian National Security identified ISIS in Mindanao as early as 2015. Since then, the National Security Committee has referred to these militants as the Islamic State East Asia (ISEA). In 2015, Australian National Security designated ISEA a terrorist organization and has since noted that the organization is unifying additional Muslim groups in Mindanao:  

• The Maute Group,  
• Dawlah Islamiyah, a faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) under Esmail Abubakar (AKA Commander Bungos),  
• And a separate faction of ASG [Abu Sayyaf Group], which has also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.  

According to Australian National Security, ISEA can be reliably attributed responsibility for the following terrorist activity:  

• April 17, 2023 – ISEA and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) detonated an improvised explosive device on a passenger bus in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat Province, Mindanao, Philippines, which injured seven people.  
• Feb. 17, 2023 – ISEA militants attempted to assassinate the Governor of Lanao del Sur in Wao, Lanao Del Sur, Philippines. ISEA militants shot the Governor of Lanao del Sur below the waist and killed four of his escorts.  
• Feb. 5, 2023 – ISEA published an official claim, reporting that “soldiers of the caliphate” had ambushed a patrol of the “crusader Philippine army” on the previous day on Mindanao Island.  
• Feb. 4, 2023 – ISEA militants ambushed an army patrol, which killed a marine sergeant and injured three others in Marogong, Lanao del Sur, Philippines. ISEA operatives also seized three rifles and a motorcycle after the attack.  
• Oct. 26, 2022 – ISEA attacked government-owned telecommunication towers in the Philippines, which killed the suspected terrorist and caused power interruptions in parts of Mindanao.  
• May 8, 2022 – ISEA detonated bombs outside a polling station in the Datu Unsay municipality that injured nine people.  
• April 29, 2022 – ISEA operatives ambushed a Philippine army patrol in Lanao del Sur, which wounded 20 Filipino soldiers.  
• In November 2021, ISEA bombed an electrical tower in Maguing, Lanao del Sur.  
• In September 2021, ISEA ambushed and killed two Filipino soldiers on Basilan Island.  
• Aug. 24, 2020 – ISEA conducted twin suicide bombings in downtown Jolo, Sulu, killing 15 and injuring dozens.  

 Clearly, the evil of terrorism infects the Philippines. The infection connects to global terror groups and unites evildoers throughout Southeast Asia. Joseph Felter writes about the 2017 attack on Marawi City. He notes that the fighters who seized the city for months originated not just from Mindanao but also from Indonesia and Malaysia.  

David Maxwell explains the spread: “ISIS is a growing global threat that is seeking to sustain itself for the long term even as it appears on the verge of defeat in Syria and Iraq. It will exploit local political conditions in countries where it can find sanctuary so that it can live to fight another day.” Evil, it seems, never sleeps.  

The point of this report should now be obvious. The Middle East garners headlines. Nigeria, China, and North Korea demand attention for their persecution of Christians and adherents of other faiths. But the Philippines cannot be ignored. Evil never rests. Righteousness must stay alert and active. As the oft-repeated adage says, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” People attribute this quote (erroneously) to Edmund Burke, but it remains true nonetheless.  

The fate of the Philippines affects the U.S., as the two nations are treaty-bound. The more important point, of course, is the reality that righteousness must always be pursued because evil has an insatiable appetite that cannot rest.  

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