The Philippines' newly elected president, Rodrigo Duterte, has a hard-earned reputation as a man who can make the guns go silent. During his 22-year stint as the mayor of Davao City, Duterte ruthlessly took on local troublemakers, transforming what was once the country's murder capital into one of its safest cities. In May, his success vaulted him to the highest office in the Philippines, and voters overwhelmingly looked past the human rights abuses that "The Punisher" allegedly committed to achieve such impressive results.
But as president, Duterte will face much bigger security challenges. The world's longest-running communist insurgency continues to launch attacks across the country. The fragile truce keeping ethnic Moro separatists in check in the predominantly Muslim regions of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago could crumble. Though they are primarily criminal syndicates, jihadist groups such as Abu Sayyaf have begun forging ties with the Islamic State. And amid it all,...
