RP urged to pay cash to ex-rebels

RP urged to pay cash to ex-rebels

MANILA (AFP): An opposition senator yesterday urged the Philippine government to fulfill its promise of financial assistance to surrendered rebels in order to prevent them from returning to the hills.

The statement from Senator Ernesto Herrera was in reaction to a report by the Philippine Amnesty Commission that some 4,000 communist and Moslem rebels who surrendered under an amnesty program have threatened to rejoin their comrades.

They complained that the government has not fulfilled a promise to provide a one-off livelihood assistance payment of 8,000 pesos (US$308) and separate cash payments for every firearm turned over.

The Philippines faces a 27-year-old communist rebellion which is now on the wane, as well as threats from three armed Moslem groups in the south of the country.