Philippines: The Price of Success

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May 26, 2006: Over the last week, Abu Sayyaf gunmen have killed four marines in the south. That attacks have been ambushes, often of marines that were off duty. This change in strategy is largely a result of the success of the marines in finding and destroying most, if not all, of the Abu Sayyaf camps out in the bush. The remaining Abu Sayyaf members are now living among the population. This makes the terrorists more vulnerable to detection and capture, but also makes it easier for them to carry out attacks like this on troops and police.

May 22, 2006: Police revealed that they had arrested a senior NPA hitman in the capital on May 11. Delfin de Guzman led an NPA death squad that had, recently, turned its attention to NPA members caught on the wrong side of an internal conflict.

May 21, 2006: In an immensely popular action, the army deployed a thousand troops to evict several dozen retired generals who had refused to leave their government housing after they retired. The custom of retiring generals staying in government housing began about a decade ago. The high command did nothing, and more and more retiring generals did it. This meant that newly promoted generals got less attractive housing, and junior officers had to find their own housing. This bit of corruption in the military was blatant, and very unpopular.

 

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