MANILA (AFP) -- Like a sniper tracking a target the controversial Philippine army general scans the communist guerrilla newspaper and smiles in quiet satisfaction when he nails it on page three. "Major-General Jovito Palparan," the furious editorial ranted. "Death Squads and vigilante groups ... gruesome murders."

To the 55 year-old general, being singled out by the New People's Army (NPA) publication "Ang Bayan" (The People) is a supreme compliment.

The 37 year-old insurgency, he says, is "more of a psychological war. The military effort is about 20-30 percent only".

Palparan is one of the military's brightest stars in the battle.

After smashing communist shadow governments in central Samar and Mindoro islands, the slight, wiry father of three with an intense, withering stare was sent last year to lead the 7th Infantry Division in the central Luzon plains north of Manila, birthplace of the Maoist rebellion.

But Palparan, who studied to become a lawyer before earning a direct commission into the military officer corps 33 years ago, has also drawn condemnation from human rights monitors who invariably call him a "butcher".

Such allegations do not perturb Palparan, an uncompromising general who believes tough tactics would yield a quick victory.

To crush the 8,000-member NPA, "one to two years is more than enough, because the enemy is not strong," he tells AFP in an interview.

"Our forces and the resources are more than enough if they are utilized properly," he says, stressing that President Gloria Arroyo's government must have the will, and the public be prepared to for "collateral damage" from an all-out offensive.

Manila must "confront them in all levels," he says. "They are better than us on the propaganda front.

"We have to concentrate on (combating) the intelligence work of the enemy and reducing their support system," he adds.

To the general, the insurgency is directed by fringe leftist political parties that have gained 15 seats in the 235-seat House of Representatives through the so-called "party list" system that came into effect in 2001.

"It is my belief that these members of party lists in Congress are providing the day-to-day policies of the (rebel) movement," he says.

Palparan says the rebel network also includes hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of outwardly legal "non-government organizations" (NGOs) infiltrated or directed by the NPA's mother group, the Communist Party of the Philippines, that "provides the materials, the shelter" for the NPA.

"We need to strengthen our legal offensive" against this network, he says, while warning that an effective counter-insurgency campaign will necessarily be messy and "there would be things that would hurt our people".

"There will be some ... collateral damage but it will be short and tolerable, (and in the end) acceptable. "The enemy would blow it up as a massive violation of human rights, but to me it would just be necessary incidents compared to what will happen really if we do not decisively confront the problem."

Palparan insists he does not condone human rights violations, but potential vigilante-style actions by anti-communist elements outside of the military organization cannot be stopped completely.

"The killings, I would say, are necessary incidents in a conflict. Because they (the rebels) are violent. They have killed a number of people already so we cannot just take a back seat," he says. "It is not necessary that the military alone should be blamed. We are armed, of course, and trained to confront and control violence, but other people whose lives are affected in these areas are also participating and helping us."