200 houses for ex-rebels to rise in Northern Samar

FUTURE COMMUNITY | Communist rebels who surrendered to the government will own houses that will be built in this 7-hectare lot in Barangay Cablangan, Mondragon town in Northern Samar, as shown in this photo taken in September 2023. (Photo from the Northern Samar office of the NTF-Elcac)

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines — The provincial government of Northern Samar is building 200 single-detached houses for former communist rebels in Mondragon town in a bid to encourage more members of the New People’s Army (NPA) to surrender and live a normal life.

Northern Samar Gov. Edwin Ongchuan said the local government has completed building a model house and is now looking for additional funds for the proposed “Kauswagan (prosperity) Village” in Mondragon.

Each house will cost from P450,000 to P500,000. The model house has two bedrooms and is the first of 34 initial units that will be constructed at the Kauswagan Village for the former rebels, dubbed as “peace builders,” who are currently living in makeshift houses on the site.

“We are building a community with school, church and farm lots. This is to show that the province is doing something to improve the lives of former rebels,” Ongchuan said in an Oct. 4 interview.

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Priority beneficiaries

The houses will rise within a seven-hectare property in Mondragon’s Cablangan village, donated by the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority.

The project is jointly funded by the provincial government, the local Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (Elcac) and the National Housing Authority. It is also supported by the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police.

Since 2019, at least 159 communist rebels in Northern Samar have surrendered to the authorities.

Ongchuan said these former rebels have been prioritized to benefit from the housing project.

The provincial Elcac earlier turned over mallard ducks and carabaos to former rebels living in Cablangan for them to raise.

“Through this Kauswagan Village, we hope to encourage more NPA members to surrender since life is better inside the community than in the mountains,” Ongchuan said.

Northern Samar is considered the last bastion of insurgency on Samar Island, with military, police and local government officials saying that its remaining two NPA guerilla fronts have since been dismantled.

Authorities said the NPA remnants in Northern Samar have been classified as roving bandits shunned by village officials.

“[Our programs are] a testament to the determination of the people of Northern Samar in achieving peace,” Ongchuan said.