ATMs, Internet used to collect money

The communist New People's Army is using automated teller machines and Internet to exact "revolutionary taxes" from businessmen and candidates for elective posts who will campaign in the May 2004 elections.

This has made it more difficult for soldiers to arrest rebels who collect revolutionary taxes and campaign fees from poli-ticians, said Lt. Gen. Romeo Dominguez of the Armed Forces' Northern Luzon Command.

Military intelligence has been taken aback by the sophistication of the NPA guerrilla operation which has taken advantage of the development in modern technology, said Dominguez.

Early this month, Communist spokesman Gregorio Rosal announced that "reactionary" politicians and political parties will have to "secure official permits" from the NPA, and "pay the necessary fees" before they could campaign in areas under the political control of the "people's revolutionary government."