Hi:

What the Melo report indicates is that the Philippine military is still suffering from the consequences of having Marcos once as their commander in chief.

Neither the NPA nor the Armed Forces of the Philippines holds the high moral ground in my country's COIN campaign.

I condemn these alleged political murders. I also believe they are counterproductive.

Nonetheless, the Philippine public is indifferent. There is no uproar right now.

This is due to the fact perhaps that most victims have been identified with the Maoist left. No one among the victims was ever identified with other political groups--the middle forces included.

The indifference could be interpreted as the NPA's being isolated politically.

But if the COIN campaign in the Philippines is to be brought to a successful conclusion eventually--no matter how long this takes--steps must be taken to further speed up institutional reforms in the AFP.