Filipino army 'fully stretched'

Bishop warns over Moslems
IF Mindanao Island's Moslems revolt against the government as they did in the 1970s, the Philippine army will be unable to control them, Bishop Jose Maria Querexeta of the Prelature of Isabella has warned.
The bishop's prelature, which covers Basilan Island, 550 miles south of Manila, is predominately Moslem. As a result, he is in regular contact with Moslem leaders.
The Marcos government, he stressed, is taking troops from Moslem areas to fight the NPA, and there are not enough left to maintain peace and order. The possibilities of a new revolt are very real, Bishop Querexeta said. He noted that more Moslems are working in government offices than in the past and more are becoming better educated, but that for most Moslems, nothing has changed in the last decade.
According to Philippine government statistics, Moslems in the country are poorer, less educated and in poorer health than Christians.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos used Moslem tribal divisions and the greed of Moslem leaders to put down the former uprising, the bishop said, but "Marcos hasn't done anything about the basic grievances of the Moslem people, just as he hasn't solved
the basic problems anywhere in the country." The Moslems have never been united politically, he added, and it was these old rivalries that President Marcos exploited to put down the former revolt.
Some observers say there is an increasing fundamentalist strain among the Moslem people inspired by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. It has been reported that his picture hangs in most remote mountain huts and in the homes of the missionaries from the Middle East.
"This new sense of religion is felt especially by the young," said Father Angel Calvo, who works with Bishop Querexeta.
• Guerrilla war and a violent religious cult called "Tadtads" (choppers) have trapped thepoor of Davao province on southern Mindanao island in a cycle of death and brutality, said a retired bishop.
"I've never seen such mindless violence and fear," retired Bishop Joseph Regan of Tagum said during an interview. "So we'll have chaos." The bishop said thousands of former rebels, still armed, are ready to resume their fight should new leadership appear.
He also said some fundamentalist Moslem leaders want to withdraw from ecumenical efforts because "they are afraid our long-range goal is conversion,"