Troops to be deployed to Manila slums despite activists' protests

MANILA (AP) - Troops are returning to the Philippine capital's slums to counter recruitment and propaganda by communist guerrillas, the military said Tuesday, despite protests that the deployment is aimed at repressing government critics.

Some 100 troops were being deployed Tuesday in Quezon and Taguig cities, both on Manila's outskirts, said Col. Ricardo Visaya, head of the armed forces' Civil-Military Operations battalion. Visaya said the troops' return has the approval of the local mayors.

The military sent 260 soldiers into 26 impoverished areas in November where it said communist rebels were trying to recruit residents to their 39 year armed rebellion against the government. They were pulled out several days before the May 14 midterm elections following charges they were being used to dissuade voters from backing the opposition.

The 260 troops will all be back in the communities by next week, said Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino.

"This time more vigorous actions will be undertaken to educate the people about the Communist Party of the Philippines' deceptions," Visaya told reporters. "They will be taught how to counter the recruitment of the CPP."

The left-wing alliance Bayan immediately condemned the move, saying the deployment had been timed to coincide with a new anti-terrorism law, known as the Human Security Act, which takes effect Sunday.

Critics, including a U.N. human rights expert, have called for the repeal or amendment of the new law, saying it has an overly broad definition of terrorism and could have a negative effect on human rights. It will allow police to detain suspected terrorists without charge for three days and includes "rebellion or insurrection" among crimes considered terrorism.

"The Arroyo regime is setting up a very dangerous scenario here. The troops are back and the terror law is set to take effect," said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

Reyes said the troops' redeployment was "a feeble justification" for repression.

Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon earlier said communist rebels have infiltrated left-wing groups, which he claims are fronts for the underground Communist Party.

Such groups have been among the Arroyo administration's most strident critics.

Dolorfino, chief of the military's National Capital Region Command, said the military had to be proactive to confront possible threats from communist insurgents, and has taken a "gunless" approach, including medical missions, infrastructure projects and lectures.