FIRST OFF . . .

Film companies that need to use military hardware in the Philippines should fly the equipment in instead of planning to borrow it from government troops. An order issued by Philippine Brig. Gen. Ramon Montano and published in the newspaper Malaya has barred Manila-based military units from lending rifles, vehicles and other equipment to film companies because the practice is interfering with operations against Communist insurgents, Montano said. In May, a Sikorsky helicopter crashed in Manila Bay while on loan to an American company filming “Missing in Action, Part III.” Philippine military equipment also was used in the feature films “Platoon” and “Apocalypse Now.”