"The Philippines Dept. of National Defense is relying on Weber Shandwick to keep in touch with the Pentagon, White House, Congress and various federal agencies under a two-year contract worth $20,000 a month," reports PR trade publication O'Dwyer's. "The Philippines has the second biggest deployment of U.S. forces--after Afghanistan--in President Bush's 'war on terror.' The Washington Post reported on April 30 that the 1,000 American troops have fallen behind in their plan to conduct joint exercises with Philippine soldiers to fight Abu Sayyaf rebels who want to establish a Muslim state in the southern part of the country."