Philippine communist rebels get 2 million dollars from extortion

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Manila - Communist rebels in the Philippines amassed nearly 100 million pesos (2.3 million dollars) from extortion in 2010, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Brigadier General Jose Mabanta said that based on data gathered by the armed forces, the guerrillas collected 95.5 million pesos in "revolutionary taxes" from various companies.

He said the collection was down from 136 million pesos in 2009.

But Mabanta noted that since 1998, communist rebels have extorted about 1.5 billion pesos from various companies, mainly mining firms, logging corporations and plantations.

"The communist rebels at this point are not anymore a security threat. They are already considered a threat against development," he said.

The military earlier reported that at least seven mining firms in the southern Philippines have threatened to withdraw operations due to extortion by communist rebels.

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

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360133,rebels-million-dollars-extortion.html.