Organizers of National Day celebration programs decided to present only a watered-down version of a full-scale military review as planned earlier after calls for thriftiness and not to waste too much of taxpayers' hard-earned money.

Critics urged Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng Wang to at least downsize the scale of military participation to cut down costs when the mass population is still squeezed and tormented by soaring prices of gasoline and other daily necessities.

Wang heads the organizing committee in his capacity as the chief lawmaker elected to represent the people.

He and other members on the organizing committee for the National Day celebration activities said the role of troops will be limited now to staging some military performances.

Troops assigned to stage the shows had assembled with their military hardware at a military base at Hukuo of Hsinchu County for training after President Chen Shui-bian first broke the news about a military review before his departure from office.

Chen's second term as the nation's top public servant and concurrently as commander in chief of the armed forces ends on May 20 next year.

The troops had to suspend training and pull out from the Hukou base last week to return to their original respective bases when Typhoon Sepat ravaged the island last week.

They will reassemble this week to resume the training.

Details of the military performances for Oct. 10 are still hazy.

Sources said they will include fighter jets flying over President Chen's office to pay respect, followed with a wide range of helicopters.

Parachutists of a crack airborne troop will jump out of planes to land precisely in front the Presidential Office.

There will be no large number of troops marching with goose-steps or tanks roaring past the presidential reviewing stand because of the requirements for repaving the surface of the road to sustain the weight.

But members of troops with special combat missions like frogmen and marines for amphibious battles, other troops from missile battalions, charged with chemical warfare, engineering, reconnaissance, and telecommunications teams will be taking armored trucks or other military vehicles for review.

The military police will take their usual heavy-duty motorcycles while the bands from military academies will march on foot.

Certain purchased and locally-made examples of modern military hardware displayed at the recently finished Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE) at the Taipei World Trade Center will also be at the Presidential Office for the military show.