Security forces took over on Thursday a major but abandoned jungle training camp and weapons factory of the communist New People's Army (NPA) in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said in a belated report yesterday.

The militants apparently sensed the arrival of troops at the camp, identified as the New Army in Mindanao Region at Datalleing village, Magsaysay town, Davao del Sur, said Major Julieto Ando, of the 6th Infantry Division.

"They fled deeper into the jungle," said Maj. Ando. "Troops are now tracking down the insurgents."

"The rebels use the camp as a weapons factory," Maj. Ando explained. "The camp is well fortified and camouflaged by the thick forest. The camp is big. There are bunkers and foxholes. It has 15 thatched houses that serve as barracks."

Seized from the camp were automatic rifles, grenades, shotguns, ammunition, bomb-making equipment, boxes of books, medical equipment, radio receivers, maps of provinces in Mindanao, and details where patrolling troops usually pass.

There was evidence linking the NPA to the series of attacks against military targets in the province, said Maj. Ando.

The NPA members were behind the toppling of several communication antenna towers of the cellular phone company, Pilipino Telephone Inc., in Koronadal town in South Cotabato province on April 10.

The same group raided and harassed government soldiers in Koronadal City on March 18, 2001. The group was also accused of extortion in business establishments in the area.

Our Manila Bureau Chief adds: Meanwhile, President Gloria Arroyo insisted on proceeding with fast-tracked back-channel talks even if the leaders of the communist National Democratic Front (NDF), who are living in exile in the Netherlands, have rejected the proposed process.

"They have rejected the change of the mode of the talks," said Press Secretary Silvestre Afable. "At this point, the president stands by the mode by which she is directing the negotiations which is through back-channel rather than a formal plenary mode."

Because of the impasse, "the talks between the government and NDF peace panels have been stalled", said Afable. "It will continue to be stalled until new options are presented to either side.

"The Philippine panel is now engaged in advocacy activities," revealed Afable, but added that the government has not resorted to holding talks with the local regional leftist groups.

Arroyo ended the talks after the NPA admitted having killed two congressmen last year. She wanted the NDF to call for a moratorium on political assassinations.

At the same time, the NDF rejected President Arroyo's call for a faster negotiating process such as the forging of a final agreement rather than forging separate agreements on various talking points before arriving at a political settlement.

The 33-year-old Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), its military arm, the NPA, and its negotiating arm, the NDF, have waged an armed struggle and called for the establishment of a Maoist type of communism in the country.