August 26, 2010:
The government has warned the NPA and MILF to get control of their more violent factions, or else peace negotiations will not work. Like most rebel movements, the communist NPA and the Islamic MILF are actually coalitions. Not all the factions believe in peace talks, and some factions don't want peace at all. The rebel leaders are reluctant to start a civil war within their organization, even if it means getting a favorable peace deal with the government. The NPA has had some bloody internal purges in the past, but the high command of this communist group is not as strong as it used to be. The MILF, or the Moslem separatist movement in general, was always subject to fragmentation. The Abu Sayyaf terror group is one of the more infamous splinters. But there are others, some of whom have not bothered to proclaim their independence from the MILF high command.
August 25, 2010: Down south, in Zamboanga City, police arrested two Abu Sayyaf members. The two men were wanted for murder and kidnapping.
August 24, 2010: In the south, NPA rebels attacked an army outpost and killed five soldiers in a pre-dawn operation.
August 23, 2010: In the capital, eight Chinese tourists were killed as police commandos stormed a bus after a former policeman, who was holding the bus passengers hostage, was killed by a sniper. The police commandos screwed up big time and this has triggered more calls for reform in the National Police. The police have long been criticized for being corrupt and inept. Four of the 200 police involved in the hostage situation were suspended and an investigation is underway.
August 20, 2010: On the southern island of Samar, NPA rebels killed eight soldiers who came to investigate the recent murder of a local town police chief by the NPA. Elsewhere in the south, a rogue MILF commander, long sought by security forces, surrendered, along with three rifles and a pistol.
August 18, 2010: In the capital, eleven police officers were suspended, pending an investigation, after a video of them torturing a suspect, went public.
August 17, 2010: In the north, an NPA commander surrendered, along with two rifles. He had been on the run since NPA men under his command killed a government medical team, travelling to another village to provide care. This was very unpopular, and caused the NPA a lot of negative publicity. The local NPA organization fell apart as a result of that, and the intense police manhunt for the killers.
August 16, 2010: The National Police received four ten meter (31 foot) patrol boats from the United States.
August 14, 2010: In the south, three days of clashes with NPA rebels have left two rebels dead and at least four wounded. Three soldiers have also been wounded, while the operation to find and destroy NPA camps continues.