DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian (left) and OPAPRU Acting Secretary Isidro (right) Purisima sign a memorandum of agreement for the MILF Normalization Program. This took place on May 2, 2023 at the DSWD Central Office. (DSWD Photo)
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) signed an accord with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) involving funds amounting to nearly four hundred million pesos that would benefit former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants.
The money will support socioeconomic programs for the decommissioned rebels as they transition back into the community.
“The ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the two agencies entails a transfer of OPAPRU funds amounting to P396 million to the DSWD,” said the welfare agency in a statement.
The document was signed on Tuesday (May 2, 2023) at the DSWD Central Office in Quezon City.
Under the agreement, over three thousand or 3,300 former MILF members will each get P100,000 in cash assistance and livelihood grants.
READ: Decommissioning of MILF fighters, weapons resumes
“We will make sure that inclusive and sustainable peace is an initiative that is not just written on paper but is actually funded and manned properly,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said.
The MOA was signed by the DSWD head and OPAPRU Acting Secretary Isidro Purisima.
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