Arroyo hints of continued stay of military in MM

By Ronron
March 31, 2007

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo hinted on Saturday of the continued stay of military troops in Metro Manila following her visit at a slum area in Tondo District where the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was conducting civil military operations (CMO).

AFP National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino said yesterday that this was the impression he got when Arroyo told him: “Congratulations, keep up the good work!”

Dolorfino, who has supervisory and operational control over the deployed troops in Metro Manila, met with Arroyo when the latter checked on the medical and dental missions of the AFP in Barangay 649, Zone 68, District 5, Barangay Bagong Lupa in Tondo yesterday morning.

Barangay 649 is among the villages in the capital where members of the Philippine Army’s CMO battalion are deployed, under the military’s Community Development Program.

The program, however, was met with a lot of criticism and opposition from various sectors, including the Commission on Human Rights, as it supposedly smacks of Martial Law.

Asked if Arroyo directed him yesterday for the pull out of the troops, Dolorfino said: “There was none.”

Just last Wednesday, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita disclosed that Malacañang ordered the AFP to prepare an exit plan for the soldiers “because it is causing disruptions.”

Dolorfino surmised that with Arroyo’s reaction yesterday, Ermita must have been misquoted about the exit plan.

“She said we were doing okay, especially that she saw for herself that we are a big help to the people,” Dolorfino said.

Aside from Barangay 649, the AFP also held medical and dental missions yesterday at the nearby Area 17 in Parola Compound, also in Tondo. They also held a dialogue (Talakayan sa Barangay) among local leaders and residents to make known their community programs.

“Your soldiers now are offering a better alternative for you… We are lighting the symbolic candle in your community… And we expect more to be lit,” Dolorfino said in the dialogue.

He said the deployment of troops is really supportive of the AFP’s Oplan Bantay Laya II (Operation Plan Freedom Watch II), which seeks to free the community from insurgents.

“The communist terrorists are capitalizing on the problems of the people – poverty, education, injustice and diseases… With this, we hope to make the CPP/NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army) irrelevant,” Dolorfino said.

Some residents pointed out, however, that there are no communist rebels in their neighborhood, contrary to what is perceived by the people.

Nevertheless, they are thankful to the presence of the military because they said it has curbed the occurrence of ordinary crimes.

“As for me, their (military) deployment is acceptable to me because they help bring order to our community. Those jobless, bystanders, and snatchers have since behaved for fear that they will be apprehended by the soldiers,” said Lydia Bulleser, 51.

“Their projects are also beneficial to us like the building of day care centers, the medical and dental missions, and the free cutting of hair of young boys in the community,” added Josie Gaspar, 42.

Both Bulleser and Gaspar are residents of Area 17 in Parola Compound.

Dolorfino disclosed that four more barangays from Paco, Manila City have made the same request as that of the 19 barangays for the presence of military troops in their communities.

The request is now under study, he said.

The military has deployed 26 teams of nine to 10 members each to the 19 barangays since November of last year./DMS