Interior Secretary Mar Roxas II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government distributed on Sunday P4.29 million in livelihood assistance to rebel returnees and their families living in Bukidnon.
Each of the 66 rebels got a P65,000 package under the government’s Comprehensive Local Integration Program, spearheaded by the DILG.
Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II led the distribution of the checks to the former rebels from the communist New People’s Army at Camp Osito Bahian in Malaybalay, Bukidnon. The camp is home to the 403rd Infantry Brigade, also known as the Peacemaker Brigade of the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division.
Forty of the rebels laid down their arms last March 22 while 26 surrendered in 2009.
Roxas welcomed the rebel returnees back to society, urging them to undergo counseling to be prudent and wise in spending the livelihood support awarded by the government.
“The implementation of CLIP in partnership with the local government units, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and civil society organization demonstrates the government’s commitment to pursuing peace and development amid the stalled peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines,” the interior secretary said in a statement.
The rebels also turned over to the government their long and short firearms, including M-14 and M-16 automatic rifles. They also pledged allegiance to the Philippine Constitution.
The awarding of the livelihood assistance to the rebels coincided with Bukidnon’s centennial anniversary.
Bukidnon governor Jose Maria Zubiri Jr. also pledged to provide an additional livelihood support of P50,000 for each of the 66 former rebels.
He appealed to Roxas to help facilitate the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines — the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, to which Roxas responded in the affirmative.
Before CLIP, the government has implemented similar programs to encourage former rebels to return to the fold of the law, such as the National Reconciliation and Development Program in 1986, the new NRDP in 1992, National Program for Unification and Development in 1994, the Expanded NPUD “Balikloob Program” in 2000 and the Social Integration Program implemented from 2007 until 2010.
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