Manila, Sept. 2 -- The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Tuesday warned of the communist rebels' "tactic" of exploiting public outrage over government corruption to recruit new members.

"The most dangerous form of corruption is not only the plunder of public coffers but the corruption of the Filipino mind," NTF-ELCAC executive director, Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., said in a statement.

Torres said it has been established that communist rebels take advantage of public indignation over government corruption to recruit new members, particularly from the youth and the vulnerable sectors.

"Former rebels, especially the youth, have long attested that corruption in the bureaucracy was among the sys...