ASPAUCULE

CPP calls AFPs bounty scheme a desperate act

The Communist Party of the Philippines on Thursday said that the bounty scheme implemented by the Armed Forces of the Philippines is a "desperate act" in its failure to quell the growing revolutionary movement.
"The bounty scheme is now officially an incentive to military units for ‘successes in military operations against the armed revolutionary movement," said CPP spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal in a statement posted in the CPP Web site, www.philippinerevolution.net .
Rosal said the bounty scheme is a "pretext for more corruption and brutalities" and bound to produce more fake reports, false raids and more atrocities against innocent civilians.
Agence France Presse reported that under the plan, a military battalion that destroys a guerilla "front" of the CPP and New Peoples Army will receive P300,000 cash incentive.
Monetary incentives, which are drawn from the militarys operational funds, will also be given for captured communist leaders, hitting their targets and taking rifles from captured or slain rebels.
It added that cash incentives are being offered to help meet President Arroyos target of defeating communist rebels by 2010.
Nothing new
Rosal added that there is nothing new in the military's cash incentive scheme except that it is now being publicized and openly admitted.
"Ever since, AFP field commanders, in collusion with their high command and underlings, have regularly and blatantly been fabricating reports about operations supposedly conducted, and victories allegedly gained against the NPA, just to collect their supposed expenses for operations that never took place," said Rosal.
"Worse, they also falsely report as 'elimination' or 'neutralization' of 'rebels' their massacres and illegal arrests of activists in the legal arena, suspected supporters of the revolutionary movement, and innocent civilians," he added.
He said the AFP force ordinary barrio folks to "surrender" in order to make spurious reports and then pocket their collections from the Rebel Returnee Funds.
Rosal explained that the Armed Forces' reports on dismantled rebel bases were actually attacks and burning down of clusters of farmers homes and peasants working camps in the field.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that newly-installed AFP chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano ordered accelerated offensives against CPP-NPA rebels in two dozen areas.
"We are on track with our targets and we'll just sustain the momentum and step up our operations in the priority areas," Yano said. With reports from Agence France Presse and Reuters