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Abstract

As the United States works to grow its defense partnership with the Philippines, the country continues to fight instability and insecurity amidst a lengthy battle against insurgent and terrorist groups.[i],[ii],[iii] As the overlap between urban areas and conflict zones increases, and with violent groups’ use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against government forces, the danger to civilians escalates.[iv] This paper provides a deeper understanding of how the prevalence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and the use of IEDs in the Philippines fuel the realities of insurgency and humanitarian danger in the country. Furthermore, using Golden West Humanitarian Foundation’s (GWHF) program in Cambodia as a framework, this paper examines how the innovative application of GWHF’s ordnance recycling technology in the Philippines would impact the host nation’s ability to counter the enduring challenges posed by insurgency groups use of UXO and IEDs. Employing GWHF’s technology in a way that uses deteriorating ordnance stockpiles, surplus ordnance, and explosive remnants of war (ERW) to produce water disruptors for use as a successful, efficient, and affordable method of handling explosive hazards offers a unique approach to supporting the Philippines in its counterinsurgency battle.

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