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A ranking military commander warned yesterday that enemies of the state, particularly communist rebels, are waging a continuing ideological war and are trying to infiltrate the military and other sectors of society.

Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines National Capital Region Command, said the New People’s Army intends to destroy society by undermining democratic processes.

“We might wake up one day and find that we are already under a different ideology that we will surely not like,” he told reporters during the Kapihan sa Sulu Hotel forum in Quezon City.

He said the communists have shifted their struggle from the provinces to the slum areas in urban centers where indoctrination seminars are conducted to expand their “ideological struggle” against the government.

Dolorfino said the communists are so aggressive that they are slowly creeping into practically every sector, even in the military and police.

Dolorfino did not elaborate on the degree of infiltration of the military and police, but he said that they are aware of the current internal threats within their ranks and the military and the police have already taken countermeasures to prevent communist infiltration.

Among the measures is the deployment of troops in the slum areas in Metro Manila, which was temporary halted during the recently concluded elections.

Dolorfino said the military will re-deploy troops in Metro Manila to counter the ideological war being waged by the communists in urban poor communities.

He said the deployment of troops is part of the peacetime duties of the military. “We have vast personnel and resources that are just waiting to be tapped, they can help in community-building operations,” he said.