Four former members of the rebel New People’s Army (NPA) in
Negros Oriental have received cash assistance for a total of PHP65,000 each
from the government through the Comprehensive Livelihood Integrated Program
(CLIP).
The rebel returnees, two females and two males whose
identities were withheld for security reasons, received their individual checks
at a simple ceremony Monday at the governor’s office at the Capitol in Dumaguete City
Governor Roel Degamo led the awarding of the checks,
alongside Army officials led by Lt. Col. Harold Pascua, commander of the 79th
Infantry Battalion and Lt. Col. John Oliver Gabun, executive officer of the
302nd Infantry Brigade, Provincial Social Welfare Officer Alice Legarde and
provincial head of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Dennis
Quiñones.
As he welcomed the former rebels, Gov. Degamo thanked them
for putting their trust in the government as he urged others still out in the
underground movement to return to the folds of the law.
The governor emphasized that fighting for their cause
through violent means is not healthy and beneficial to those belonging to the
rebel movement.
According to him, the government is open to peaceful means
of settling disputes as he called on the insurgents to lay down their arms and
instead avail of the CLIP, an incentive given to those wanting a fresh start in
their lives from the hardships in the mountains.
This is the first batch of rebel returnees in Negros
Oriental this year to have received financial assistance.
Last year, 33 others were also given the same aid from the
national government through the DILG.
The financial aid covers PHP15,000 immediate cash assistance
and another PHP50,000 for livelihood assistance for every rebel
returnee-recipient, said Provincial Social Welfare Officer Alice Legarde.
The four recipients have identical proposals of livestock
raising for their livelihood projects, she said.
They have undergone proper training and will be under
constant monitoring to ensure that the money they have received from the
government has been put to good use, Legarde said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=809536
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