Philippine military warns against extortion by rebels

Manila - Communist rebels allegedly earned nearly 3 million dollars from extortion activities last year and were expected to step up their racket ahead of national elections in May, the Philippine military said Sunday. Brigadier General Francisco Cruz, the military's civil relations commander, said the New People's Army (NPA) had already began to demand "permit-to-campaign" and "permit-to-win" fees from candidates in the May 10 polls.

He said the NPA, the armed wing of the communist movement in the Philippines, has even demanded protection money from Smartmatic, the supplier of voting machines that would be used in the elections.

"Through the years, we have observed that election is the money-making season of the NPA, when they exact either cash or firearms from candidates," he said.

The NPA was reported to have earned 137 million pesos (2.97 million dollars) from extortion last year. The amount was up from an average income of 101 million pesos from 1996 to 2007, according to military records.

"Money is extorted from construction, mining, telecommunication, transportation companies, logging concessionaires, politicians and private individuals, including poor farmers, fishermen and store owners," Cruz said.

Companies and individuals who refused to pay up are usually attacked by the rebels, who destroyed private and public properties worth a total of 1.2 billion pesos from 2000 to 2009, according to military records.

Cruz urged candidates not to give in to the rebels, who reportedly demand between 20,000 pesos and 500,000 pesos for politicians to campaign and win in areas allegedly under the guerrillas' control.

"The candidates themselves have to be urged not to yield in to such schemes," he said. "To pay is analogous to paying ransom. Besides, the NPA does not control areas. They do have members in some remote villages, but they don't control territories."

Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies.

More than 18,000 positions are up for grabs in the May 10 elections in the Philippines, including president, vice president, senators, members of the House of Representatives, governors, mayors and vice mayors.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305442,philippine-military-warns-against-extortion-by-rebels.html.