President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has called for a military revamp, following the inept way the Armed Forces handled the Abu Sayyaf group which recently kidnapped a total of 59 hostages in Palawan and Basilan, southern Philippines.

"We will submit our recommendation to the President shortly but definitely we might expect some movements among the commanders, not necessarily because they are bad commanders, but because there's a need for change," said Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes.

"We are filled with anger because of the Abu Sayyaf group. I know that we have to get an immediate solution to this hostage crisis. I understand the way our people are asking (why the Abu Sayyaf group managed to escape). I know that the patience of the people is getting short," said Arroyo, who also expressed exasperation over the way the Abu Sayyaf was handled.

Reports said that the revamp would see Col. Jovenal Narciso, 103rd Brigade commander assigned in Basilan. Arroyo has explained the problem being faced by the military in handling the hostage-crisis. "I admit that the Abu Sayyaf group has temporarily managed to escape, for the sake of the freedom of the hostages. Otherwise, the group should have been cornered and pulverised. But I also don't want the hostages to be killed," she said.

The Armed Forces said lack of modernisation programme was the reason for its inadequacy in handling the Abu Sayyaf problem. The military was also constrained by the hostages who were used as human shields and it could not deploy troops rapidly, said Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan.

The government has not developed its naval and air power for years because it was dependent on the presence of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force in Olongapo, Zambales and Angeles, Pampanga until 1991, the end of the U.S.-Philippines Military Bases Agreement. Since then, the government has failed to develop its navy and air force despite the legislation of an ambitious $100 million in 15 years.

Although a rag-tag rebel group, the Abu Sayyaf has used modern war equipment and great agility, adeptness, observers said. In contrast, the military has been criticised for having allowed the Abu Sayyaf to slip away across the Sulu Sea, from Palawan to southwestern Sulu, and from Sulu's eastern part to Southwestern Basilan, where 200 hostages were held in a hospital and a church complex in Lamitan town over the weekend.

The military and the police have become a laughing stock over their inability to arrest the Abu Sayyaf leaders and rescue the hostages, after they cordoned off Lamitan town where the Abu Sayyaf and their hostages temporarily took over a hospital, church, and commercial complex in Lamitan.

Behind the Armed Forces' apparent ineptitude is the Asian financial crisis. This weakened the Philippine peso and the government's ability to buy multi-role fighters, corvettes, attack helicopters, and surface to air missiles, to combat terrorism and separatist groups.