Communist guerrillas have collected more than P1 billion ($22 million) through extortion in the past 13 years and plan to squeeze more money from candidates ahead of general elections in May, the military said Sunday. About 48 million Filipinos will vote for a new president, senators, congressmen and thousands of officials down to the village level on May 10. Past elections in the Southeast Asian democracy have been marred by bloodshed and fraud. Documents seized from captured guerrillas show they plan to extort money and firearms from candidates in exchange for protection from rebel attacks, as well as help in gaining support in the countryside, military civil relations service commander Brig. Gen. Francisco Cruz said in a statement. He said such demands are preposterous because the rebels do not control any territory or voters. Candidates should immediately report any extortion demands from the 5,000-strong New People's Army because giving them funds or guns would bolster their waning movement, Cruz said. “This is their moneymaking season,” he said. “Extortion is what's keeping them alive, not their ideology.” Maoist guerrillas have also attempted to extort money from a company contracted by the elections commission to supply automated voting machines nationwide, Cruz said. Efforts to reach the rebels for comment were unsuccessful. Since 1996, the rebels have extorted more than P1 billion from construction, mining, telecommunications, transportation and logging companies, as well as from farmers, Cruz said, citing revelations by captured guerrillas. Refusing to pay up can expose companies to rebel attacks, Cruz said. Earlier this month, communist guerrillas destroyed banana saplings and a backhoe on a foreign-owned plantation in southern Surigao del Sur province after the company refused to yield to rebel extortion, he said. Peace talks between the rebels and the government brokered by Norway collapsed in 2004 after the guerrillas blamed the government for their inclusion on US and European lists of terrorist groups. Both sides have taken steps to resume the talks, but the efforts have been unsuccessful.
