UN envoy blames military for spate of slays (Philippines)

THE United Nations blamed the Philippine military yesterday for many of the political murders that have rocked the country and pressed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to rein in the bloodshed.

Wrapping up an investigation into what rights groups say are more than 800 political assassinations, UN special envoy Philip Alston said many of the killings stemmed from the military’s campaign against left-wing guerrillas.

Alston said the government was responsible for a climate of impunity but said he did not have evidence to support allegations by the nation’s leading human rights group that Mrs. Arroyo had ordered or condoned the murders.

“The increase in extra-judicial executions in recent years is attributable, at least in part, to a shift in the military’s counterinsurgency strategy,” Alston told a news conference ...

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news2_feb22_2007

I thought this had always been their "counter-insurgency" strategy.