Philippines: January 27, 2004

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NPA leaders admit that the many recent attacks are largely a ploy to help the coming negotiations with the government. The NPA is having money problems, made worse by increasing police activity against some of  their long standing income sources. For example, extorting money from candidates for parliament has long been an easy source of revenue in those areas where the NPA operates. Now the police are going after that and some NPA units are having a hard time meeting the payroll. This is not an altogether good thing, as unpaid rebels often turn to banditry. Meanwhile, the corruption and economic decline in the countryside that provided support for the NPA over the last four decades, is still there. While many of locals have become disenchanted with the increasingly corrupt and brutal NPA, the conditions are still there to foster the growth of another rebel movement.