Press Release
March 3, 2007

Deploy Army doctors in NCR slums instead Recto

Send in Army doctors instead .

Sen. Ralph Recto said the Armed Forces should deploy military doctors in Metro Manila slums as such is an effective way of winning the hearts and minds of the residents than ordering soldiers to patrol areas where activist groups are present.

Doctors in fatigues would be a most welcome sight in places where public health services are lacking. In these areas, disease is the enemy not dissidents, Recto said.

I think theyd better bring in medicines than munitions. If there are no NPAs to shoot at, then why not give vaccination shots to children instead? Recto said in reaction to reports that soldiers have been on the prowl in urban areas where Communist agitation is reportedly taking place.

Another way that the military can stop insurgent organizing in the capital region is to field engineering battalions to urban poor areas, the senator added.

They can do civic action. They can build schools, drain canals, fix health centers, pave alleyways and other activities that would give residents better infrastructure, Recto said.

Mas mabuti siguro na martilyo at hindi M-16s ang dala, Recto said.

As to reports that Army soldiers are spreading anti-Communist propaganda to dissuade residents from supporting militant party-list groups , Recto has this to say : Maybe they should add to their lectures tips on hygiene and public health, or conduct reading lessons or adult education.

Sa lugar na may dengue, maari silang maglecture kung paano puksain ang mga kiti-kiti, he said.

Recto said the non-armed approach is a better way of addressing what the military claims are threats to the state.

If reports are to be believed, the civic action approach in neutralizing insurgency has been proven effective in Sulu, Recto said.

He was referring to the Mindanao province where American soldiers have been building roads and schools, and conducting free clinics to win over a populace which has been the target of radical Islamic group organizing.

As to where to get the military doctors and medicines, Recto said that for two Metro Manila military hospitals alone the V. Luna Medical Center and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center , the AFP has a budget of P1.3 billion this year which , he added, the government can augment should military medical personnel do free clinics in some Metro Manila barangays .

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