By Manny Mogato and Raju Gopalakrishnan MANILA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Communist rebels are the biggest threat to security in the Philippines but will be rendered inconsequential within three years, the country's military chief said on Tuesday. General Hermogenes Esperon told Reuters that the Southeast Asian nation's military had largely neutralised the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic rebel group with links to the regional Jemaah Islamiah militant network. Fighting with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, another rebel group, had fallen off sharply since peace talks with the government began in 2003. "The biggest threat is the New People's Army (NPA), the communist organisation," he said in an interview in his office at military headquarters. "We consider them as the long-term threat to national security. They want to subvert our democratic way of life by using our democratic space." He said funds collected by extortion were being channeled to left-wing candidates who plan to stand in congressional elections in May, adding that 250 million pesos ($5 million) had been similarly collected at the last polls in 2004. But Esperon said a counter-insurgency operation launched in 2002 was bearing fruit, and that the strength of the NPA had been whittled down to 7,000 or so from 12,000. "By 2010, the NPA strength would be reduced by 3,000 more. The meaning of that is they would not be able to launch any more meaningful tactical operations. They will be rendered inconsequential." RIGHT HAND, LEFT HAND He said the operations against the NPA comprised a "right hand, left hand" approach. "The right hand is pure military action. The left hand efforts are the activities that actually bring development, prop up the quality of life in the rural areas." He said troops conduct literacy patrols, build roads connecting farms to market towns, set up small irrigation systems and cooperatives and provide medical and civic services in addition to fighting the rebels. On the Abu Sayyaf, Esperon said the military was targeting five of its top rung members, adding that eliminating them would render the group leaderless. In recent months, several senior Abu Sayyaf figures, including chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, have been killed. Of the military's 120,000 strength, about 7,000 are on the island of Jolo, the bastion of the Abu Sayyaf. They are being provided training and technical intelligence by U.S. special forces based there. "It is a must that we significantly degrade their capabilities," Esperon said of the Abu Sayyaf. "We believe we are on the right track." Asked about politicisation in the military, he said: "Being aware of what is happening around you is part of your duty. As a soldier you must know what is happening. "But in terms of taking over government, that is unauthorised, that is adventurism. The officer corps and the soldiers fully realise that it is not their role to take over government. They know where they should be." The Philippine military has been instrumental in the overthrow of two presidents in the past two decades, and disaffected officers have staged at least a dozen coup attempts. Last week, an inquiry commission blamed soldiers for many of the hundreds of killings of left-wing activists in the past five years. Esperon said he had not received a copy of the report, but would prosecute any soldier named. "The armed forces of the Philippines does not have this policy of extra-judicial killings to pursue its objectives," he said. "We condemn it."
