Filipino soldiers running out of English, not ammo.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Julie S. Alipala, PDI Mindanao Bureau

ZAMBOANGA CITY-Their supply of guns and bullets may be bottomless, for a change. But there's one thing Filipino soldiers participating

in the anti-terror training here are running out of-English.

Filipino and American soldiers have admitted they're finding it hard to communicate with each other because the locals have a limited supply of English. The Filipinos have had to borrow their children's English-Filipino dictionaries so they could find the right words to say to their American counterparts.

"If we don't understand, we open the dictionary," Army Cpl. Rasel Mabiskay said in Tagalog. And even then, they still find their instructors' language difficult to understand in casual conversation.

"I often run out of English," Cpl. Novo Medallo said in jest. He said the instruction is not a problem because the Filipinos are familiar with it. But in casual conversation with their trainers, they have to grope for words.