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.