Philippine army pushes for tougher security laws

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MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine army is pushing for tougher laws to help crush nearly 40 years of communist rebellion, favoring legislation similar to the internal security acts enforced elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the military chief said on Friday.

By Manny Mogato

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine army is pushing for tougher laws to help crush nearly 40 years of communist rebellion, favoring legislation similar to the internal security acts enforced elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the military chief said on Friday.

General Hermogenes Esperon said the Philippines had a weak legal system that allowed communists and other dissident groups to take advantage of the democratic space.

"We need a kind of law that would approximate the internal security acts of other countries who have availed of this tool in defeating insurgencies in their homeland," Esperon told reporters.

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"I support a new anti-subversion law. It is the duty of the government to protect its citizens and if, indeed, they are only after political reforms, then, they can go to the negotiating table."

In 1992, the Philippines repealed an anti-subversion law used to fight Maoist-led rebels inspired by the communist victories in China and Indochina.

On Thursday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she was supporting moves in Congress to revive an anti-subversion law that, among other provisions, would punish mere membership of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Arroyo was apparently trying all possible tools to defeat the 6,000-member communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels before she steps down in June 2010.

Senators on both sides of the political fence agreed to block moves by Arroyo's allies in the lower house of Congress to revive an anti-subversion law, saying such legislation would be illegal under the 1987 constitution that protects people's rights.

"I urge the administration to drop this idea," said Senator Manuel Roxas, head of the Liberal Party, an ally of Arroyo's political coalition in Congress.

"The days of the Cold War have long ended. That we still have the longest-running communist insurgency in Asia is a function of poor governance, widespread injustice and too much corruption."

The Maoist-led NPA rebels, active in 69 of 81 provinces, have been waging protracted guerrilla warfare for nearly 40 years to overthrow the government and replace it with a communist system.

The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people and stunted economic growth in one of the poorer countries in Southeast Asia.

The largely Roman Catholic Philippines is also battling Muslim insurgencies in the south of the archipelago and despite major advances earlier this year against one of the most deadly organizations, Abu Sayyaf, the small group remains a threat.

On Friday, police warned that Abu Sayyaf, which has had links in the past with al Qaeda, was believed to be plotting to kidnap foreigners, including U.S. soldiers deployed in the south to advise the Philippine military on tactics.

Avelino Razon, the national police chief, said they had been alerted by intelligence units that Abu Sayyaf rebels were trying to buy U.S. army uniforms to get near their targets, snatch and hold them for ransom.

(Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Alex Richardson)