Philippine military concentrates on fighting leftwing rebels

Philippine Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Monday said the military is concentrating on hunting down the New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas in three key areas in Southern Luzon, Central Luzon and Bicol.

At a press conference in Camp Aguinaldo, the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Cruz said, "These critical areas are in the drawing board of AFP for a long time".

"Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and Sorsogon (in Bicol region) are the near term (objective), where the AFP will focus to cleanse the terrorists," said Cruz in reference to the NPA, which is termed "terrorist" organization by both the United States and the Philippine military.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the Department of Budget and Management to release 1 billion pesos (18 million U.S. dollars) in additional funds to the military and police to bolster their capability in fighting the NPA.

Cruz quoted Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Pedro Cabuay as saying that the military can clean up certain areas if other government agencies would be involved in the campaign.

The defense chief clarified that renewed campaign against the insurgents is not an all-out war but a "total government approach" that would involve the construction of infrastructure and provision of social services.

Cruz said the military and police would be submitting to the Department of Budget and Management the program of expenditures so that there will be a systematic procedure how the additional 1 billion peso counter-insurgency funds would be disbursed.

He expressed confidence that the insurgency would be crippled sooner, citing several factors that include the "resurgence of the economy" of the country which he said would translate into creation of more jobs.

He also cited that foreign direct investments, foreign portfolio investments, tourism industry, remittance of overseas Filipino workers, and last year's gross domestic product were up.

Source: Xinhua