Six former rebels get Php274,000 cash rewards

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 18): Six former rebels get Php274,000 cash rewards

Six former New People's Army (NPA) fighters were handed Php274,000 cash rewards under the government's "Guns for Peace Program" on Friday to insure their successful reintegration in mainstream society,

Major Angelo Guzman, Southern Luzon Command spokesperson, said the money was handed to the six ex-NPA members at 74th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Mulanay town, Bondoc Peninsula, Quezon.

Lt. Col. Consolito Yecla, 74th Infantry Battalion commander, said the six former rebels (FRs) were the most recent of 32 former rebels in Bondoc Peninsula who sought the help of his unit in returning to the mainstream society during the past one and half year.

"The 26 other FRs have already received the monetary equivalent of the firearms they have surrendered to the battalion," he said.

"Lectures were presented by DILG, DSWD, HMO, religious sector, medical retainers of the unit, the Municipal Agriculture Office and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Mulanay," Yecla said.

He added that the re-orientation program also teaches the FRs on how to manage well the money they received from the government.

"We want them not to return to the mountains anymore and it is our responsibility to prepare them to the new life they have," Southern Luzon Command head Major Gen. Ricardo Visaya said.

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