Communist rebels in Negros were able to collect cash, goods and medicines from local candidates during the recent mid-term elections, the military said.

Some candidates who extended cash or items to the rebel group, in exchange for votes, or to be able to campaign in the so-called guerilla zones, won in the election, local military officials said. Lt. Col. Norman Flores, 61st Infantry Battalion commander, said yesterday that a local candidate in southern Negros, gave about P50,000 worth of medicines, 100 hammocks and tents to the New People's Army Larangan Gerilya 4.

Flores, however, refused to identify the official who, he said, won in the election.

Lt. Col. Jess Manangquil, 11th Infantry Battalion commander, said many local candidates in central Negros also established linkages with the legal fronts of the underground movement, to gain the support of their "masses" in the countryside.

Others negotiated with the representatives of the New People's Army for them to campaign in the so-called "guerilla zones", Manangquil said.

Lt. Col. Felicisimo Budiongan, Task Force North commander, said they have not monitored any candidates paying campaign fees to the rebels but added that "Maybe it was done in a discreet manner".

Local military officials, however, said they have no idea as to how much cash the rebels managed to collect from local candidates during the election period.

There were claims that opposing congressional candidates in a Oriental Negros district reportedly employed rival groups of communist rebels as their "goons".

Soldiers of the 11th Infantry Battalion confiscated two M-16 assault rifles from a residence of a barangay kagawad in La Libertad, Negros Occidental, allegedly being used by a private armed group identified with a politician. The New People's Army Boy Gatmaitan Command had earlier claimed responsibility for the ambush of Mayor Magdaleno Peña on May 30 in Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, which claimed the lives of his two companions.*GPB

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