Arroyo to bring up child warriors issue to UN - report

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government is set to file a complaint before the United Nations (UN) against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the New People’s Army (NPA) for allegedly recruiting minors into their ranks. A radio report said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo herself will personally bring up the complaint to the UN body when she attends the UN General Assembly on September 23 in the United States. The Commission on Human Rights had said it would deploy a team to Mindanao to verify reports that the MILF has been shoring up the youth’s support in the rebel group’s armed movement. CHR chairperson Leila de Lima said Wednesday they were open to getting in touch with the MILF to verify the authenticity of the report. Several days ago, a television report showed footage of a platoon of fatigue-clad, firearm yielding minors, who were allegedly among the new recruits of the rebel group. In her US visit, Mrs Arroyo is expected to hold bilateral meetings in New York and report to the UN the country’s compliance to the eight international development objectives. The President will also meet with the Organization of Islamic Conference to present the government’s “new peace strategy," following the stalling of the signing of an domain agreement with the MILF. On Thursday, Mrs Arroyo flew to Mindanao to personally hand out incentives to some 500 soldiers deployed in Lanao del Norte to boost their moral while hunting down wanted MILF leaders. Aside from distributing P300 cell phone loads to each soldier, the President also gave out: P1 million for the college education of the soldiers’ children, and P1 million for the soldiers’ parents. The report said Mrs Arroyo has also vowed to rehabilitate the hospitals where wounded soldiers are taking refuge. - GMANews.TV