THE communist New People?s Army raised P62 million from extortion last year, but the figure is based only on ?validated data? gathered by the military, an official said yesterday.

?The [total] could reach hundreds of millions if we consider the undocumented ?donations? [to the rebels],? Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres Jr. said.

He said most of the communists? shakedown money was coming from the urban areas, and the victims included rich individuals, corporations, universities and colleges.

President Arroyo has given the 120,000-member Armed Forces to defeat the communists by the end of her term in 2010. The Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People?s Army, has been fighting to overthrow the government for four decades.

?Clipping the sources of their funds is crucial in our war against these insurgents,? Torres said.

He said Mt. Banahaw and the provinces and towns surrounding it in Quezon remained the communists? ?bastion.? Quezon province is included in the military?s South Luzon Command, which is being led by Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, one of the leading candidates to succeed Armed Forces Chief Alexander Yano when he retires in June.

The military considers the communists as the biggest security threat since they operate nationwide, although most of their forces are in Luzon.

The military has placed the number of communist fighters at slightly more than 5,000. It claims their number is decreasing rapidly, and has come down from as high as 26,000 in 1986, when the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos was driven out of Malaca?ang.

Torres said poverty and illiteracy in the provinces were contributing to the support of the communists by some villagers.

?They are easily exploited,? he said. Jaime Pilapil