Duterte orders financial aid to Cafgu members

CAFGU FORMATION With Mt. Isarog on the backdrop, some of the members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) members take formation at Camp Elias Angeles in Pili, Camarines Sur province. INQUIRER FILE / JUAN ESCANDOR JR.

MANILA, Philippines —President Rodrigo Duterte has directed the granting of monthly financial assistance to members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu).

Under Executive Order No. 69, signed by Mr. Duterte last December 4, “only duly-appointed CAA members appearing in the roster maintained by the AFP shall be entitled to financial support, provided, that those who are in the roster and have been appointed but are still undergoing training, shall be entitled to a prorated portion of said financial support upon the satisfactory completion of the prescribed training.”

CAA refers to Cafgu Active Auxiliary Service.

As a start, the order instructs for a P7,000-assistance that will cover the months of November and December this year. The funding for those two months will be sourced from the FY 2018 Contingent Fund, the order added.

For the succeeding years, however, EO 69 instructed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to “study and propose measures for the grant of financial support to qualified CAA members on a monthly basis, as well as identify funding sources against which said financial support may be charged, subject to applicable budgeting, accounting and auditing laws, rules and regulations.”

The Cafgu was created in 1987 when former President Corazon Aquino signed Executive Order No. 264 titled “Providing for the Citizen Armed Force”.

The creation of the unit was based on the “clear, consolidate, hold and develop” strategy in dealing with insurgent-infiltrated villages.

The Cafgu units are administered by, and under the operational control of, regular units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.  /kga