BY REINIR PADUA AND VICTOR REYES

THE Commission on Human Rights has asked President Arroyo to pull out soldiers deployed in urban poor communities in Metro Manila.

CHR chair Purificacion Quisumbing, in a letter sent this week, said the soldiers are duplicating the work of the police, according to Ed Diansuy, chief of the CHR’s public information office.

Diansuy said Quisumbing sent similar letters to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, and PNP chief Oscar Calderon.

Diansuy said the CHR has not received complaints from residents, but "the people will always equate the military presence to war or martial law and we don’t want to take any chance."

Diansuy, quoting from Quisumbing’s letter, also said "militarization of the civilian communities … would be tantamount to violation of certain civil and political rights of the residents in the said communities."

Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, chief of the AFP public information office, said Esperon is considering the pullout "very seriously."

He said a pullout in Metro Manila might, however, effect deployment in other urban areas like Davao, General Santos, and Zamboanga cities.

Bacarro also said if the soldiers are pulled out, organizations linked to the New People’s Army will rejoice.

"If we pull out, the noisy (groups) will win in terms of propaganda," he said.

The National Capital region Command has deployed at least 240 officers in 27 urban poor areas in Manila, Caloocan and Quezon cities since November last year.

The Armed Forces has said the troops were deployed as part of their training for future peacekeeping work.

On Tuesday, the military said barangay residents in several areas have sent letters requesting that soldiers be deployed in their areas.

Militant groups alleged the soldiers were harassing residents and telling them not to vote for party-list groups associated with the left, prompting the CHR to send teams to the areas to conduct an investigation.

Wilhelm Soriano, CHR commissioner in charge of Metro Manila, earlier said his teams reported that urban poor residents did not feel intimidated by the presence of the soldiers.

Soriano added that he would recommend during a meeting of the commissioners that the CHR keep its hands off the deployment.

Soriano apparently was over-ruled.

Diansuy said the deployment should have been for only a limited period.

"If you are doing community service like dental and medical mission, does it have to take a month?" Diansuy said.

Bacarro said Esperon would take up the recommendation with the CHR.

"We are seriously studying it and of course the final say later on (lies with higher authorities). As mentioned in the press statement, they have also sent a letter to the President. So while we are studying this, we are also awaiting instructions coming from the higher leadership," he said.

On whether Esperon would appeal the CHR decision, Bacarro said: "This is a recommendation on the part of CHR. As I’ve said, we are studying it seriously because it might have an impact or it will have an effect on areas, in urban areas where we also have presence."

"(Militarization) is not happening. The barangay officials are able to perform their functions. The people in the area can go anywhere they want to. They can do their day-to-day chores, their day-to-day activities without any restrictions coming from the Armed Forces or from the military personnel down in the areas," he said.

Bacarro said what the soldiers are able to restrict are the movements of criminals.