Posted on 07/12/2003 5:32:54 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
President Arroyo said on Saturday, she would launch "comprehensive countermeasures" in different sectors to fight an upsurge in communist rebel attacks in the countryside.
"The response to the violence of the NPA (New People's Army) is our launch of comprehensive countermeasures where we will simultaneously use military, political and legal action to fight this group," Arroyo said in a radio speech. "We are combining all necessary measures to stop this threat and defeat it by the use of force, political action and long term social reforms," she added.
The President said she would also take up the growing influence of the NPA in hinterland villages during a tour of Visayas in the coming week.
"I want to know what their problems are there, why are they turning to the NPA, a group which claims to fight for democracy but really seeks to topple the government through violence," Arroyo said.
The 9,000-strong NPA have recently stepped up attacks, particularly in the Visayas. Some 30 soldiers and militiamen have been killed and 13 others wounded in clashes with the communists in recent weeks.
Arroyo also said the communists were continuing to target public facilities and businesses, attacking those whose owners refuse to pay extortion demands.
She also remarked that as the May, 2004 elections approach, the communists were preparing to go back to their old practice of demanding "election permits" from candidates who want to campaign in areas where they are active.
"If you refuse, something bad will happen to you," Arroyo said, calling on the public to show the guerrillas that they could not thwart the democratic process.
Arroyo did not give details on the countermeasures to fight the communists but stated "my administration has an integrated strategy for security and development in each province... from infrastructure to education, to economic growth to poverty reduction, to law enforcement."
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has been waging a Maoist rebellion in the countryside since 1969.
Arroyo suspended peace talks with the communists in 2001 after the rebels gunned down two legislators.
The government has recently said it would take aim at the communist insurgents' so-called legal "front groups" and has accused the rebels of working with marijuana growers and Moro separatist rebels.
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