AFP extends battle plan linked to extra-judicial killings

The military has extended a controversial anti-insurgency battle plan that progressive organizations have linked to extra-judicial killings of persons identified with the left. Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo David on Sunday said Oplan Bantay Laya II, which expired last June, has been extended until January next year. The military started implementing the plan in June 2007. “The Oplan Bantay Laya II expired last June so we are extending it for six months. We will come up with a new campaign plan by January 2011," said David. A follow up to the original Bantay Laya, Bantay Laya II aims to defeat not only the communist New People’s Army (NPA) but also the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf. It also seeks to contain the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao. David said extending the battle plan does not mean they failed in defeating the NPA, the prime target of the battle plan. “It does not actually mean that it failed when you did not accomplish your target because it’s just a target," he said. David said through Bantay Laya II, the military has reduced the NPA’s strength from 7,000 to less than 5,000, a figure he described as “inconsequential" considering that the NPA strength used to be more than 20,000 in the 1980s. David said they would emphasize the respect and upholding of human rights in crafting the new campaign plan, noting that such is one of the thrusts of President Benigno Aquino III. “The focus of the new campaign will be the respect for human rights… To achieve this (defeat of NPA), you have to have a clear human rights advocacy," he said. David said the new campaign plan will have the Davao region as the “national focus." He said they chose Davao because of the “high" number of NPA insurgents there due mainly to poverty. “The number of ideologues is small. Many of the people there are poor and they think that [extortion] is easy money, and they justify why they extort – they say it’s for their movement," the official said. NPA rebels are known to collect “revolutionary taxes" from big businesses in their areas. - KBK, GMANews.TV