|
By Anthony Vargas Reporter
THE Armed Forces on Monday
rejects the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) recommendation of
immediate withdrawal of troops deployed in depressed communities in
Metro Manila.
The AFP chief, Gen. Hermogenes
Esperon Jr., said that they are open to any suggestion, but the
pulling out of troops deployed in Metro Manila is still under
consideration.
“We are still studying it [CHR’s
recommendation] . . . we are open to anything, but we are studying
it,” Esperon told reporters during a chance interview in Camp
Aguinaldo.
The CHR had sent a letter to
President Arroyo, Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., PNP chief
Director General Oscar Calderon and Esperon calling for the
withdrawal of troops.
Ebdane, in separate interview,
said that he had not heard about the CHR’s letter, even the CHR
chairman, Purification Quisumbing, have not mentioned the troop
pullout during Cabinet meetings.
“I have not heard of that [CHR’s
letter],” said Ebdane, adding that troops would have to stay in
their respective areas in the absence of any formal complaint from
local residents.
“The soldiers are doing
something that the people accept. Should we stop it just because
some people who are not even from the areas are complaining?”
Ebdane asked.
Since November 2006, the AFP’s
National Capital Regional Command had deployed a nine-man team in 27
depressed communities in Manila, Caloocan and Quezon City.
Top military officials have
explained that the metro troop deployment is part of a new
counterinsurgency plan, which also aims to address the problem from
the grassroots. The Army chief, Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, said last
week that the deployment of troops in the metropolis was meant to
prevent the rebels in reviving its “sparrow unit” in Metro
Manila.
However, leftist militant
party-list groups scored the metro troop deployment and accused the
soldiers of harassing their supporters and campaigning against them.
|
