Military warns politicians against forging tactical alliances with rebels

From the Philippine Information Agency (Feb 5): Military warns politicians against forging tactical alliances with rebels

A military official in Bohol has warned that communist insurgents operating in Central Visayas are negotiating for alliances with politicians seeking office in 2013.

Col. Dino Dolina of the Task Group SugBohol (TGSugbohol), Philippine Army warned politicians against going into alliances with the communists as these may extend beyond the May 2013 elections.

Dolina said this tactical alliance strategy is part of the communist movement’s goal of achieving strategic stalemate in 2015. The movement comprises the Communist Party of the Philippines, National Democratic Front and the New People’s Army (CNN)

Communist insurgents operating in the region have veered from their strategic direction of generating logistics and financial support from collecting permit to campaign (PTC) fees, the army official said.

Military sources said the standard operating procedure for the rebels is to create high profile incidents involving a show of armed force with the main objective of sowing fear and project the picture that they are in control.

But with the failure of generating the arms and the show of force, they could hardly exact the fees to raise funds for their operations. This is the reason why they have resort to other means to advance their strategic goals, the military reported during a recent Regional Peace and Order Council meeting.

Military authorities said insurgency in Cebu and Bohol is no longer a threat, but this should not be taken for granted.

Dolina said the upcoming May 2013 elections have given the communists perfect cover to revive and reorganize their dormant organizations not only in urban centers but also in the rural areas.

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=1101360035014