BBC has a very interesting article about the army in the Philippines.

They write:
The Philippine military is under new pressure after a government-backed commission linked some soldiers to a spate of political killings.

The commission's report came a day after a UN envoy accused the army of being in "denial" over the issue of extra-judicial killings.

A rights group said 830 activists had been killed since President Gloria Arroyo came to power in 2001.



READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6385319.stm

What is going on here? Is there any truth to these allegations?

John

I'm here in the Philippines. I heard over the radio this morning the interview of the former justice who initiated this investigation. He said that the MELO Commission report did not present substantial evidence against military Major General Jovito Palparan. They merely based their findings on his interviews with the media. Like once he said, "I did not order my soldiers to kill. But they might have been inspired by my actions." At the same time, the UN team arrived at its conclusion that it was the military that was behind the political killings only based on the Melo Commission Report.

How can a report such as this become so crystal clear credible if it lacks ample investigation? The Melo Commision didn't even present complaints from the victims of the killings. How can they possibly substantiate their claim against the military if there are no victims to testify?

For purposes of transparency, investigations involving anomalies in the military or the government at large must be done by an independent body and not commissioned by those people under scrutiny themselves.

I have covered the Phlippines for more than 20 years and we all know that there is almost no chance that an investigation will get anywhere real. I have looked into these killings and written about them. Of course, military people have been doing this as part of the counter insurgency strategy. It is also motivated by Gloria being angry about the Left removing its support from her. Now it is a big mess and yet another black eye for the country but don't look for that to be enough to rein in the hard-boys in uniform. The investigations are all for show. Everyone here knows that.
For its part, the communist Left, in its endless battle with the government, has been making maximum use of the killings for propaganda value.
The sad thing is that most of the victims are low level organizers and activists. Their suffering often gets lost.
Lin