7 ex-rebels in audience with Digong

From the Visayan Daily Star (Aug 8): 7 ex-rebels in audience with Digong

Seven former New People's Army rebels got a rare chance of having an audience with President Rodrigo Duterte during his visit at Camp Macario Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz Friday.

Capt. Gizelle Lim, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office chief, yesterday said that the seven former rebels asked the help of Duterte for the land that they will be tilling, for them to start a new life.

Although the visit was strictly a military affair, Lim said the President took the time to reach out to the former rebels and asked them about their condition after their life in the rebel movement.

Lim added that Duterte told them they will be provided land to till under the government's agrarian reform program. But they were reminded not to sell it, she added.

The President also enlisted their help to make the country peaceful, she added.

Major Gen. Harold Cabreros, 3ID commander, in a statement, said the Philippine Army will continue its non-traditional role as Bayanihan Team operators, to lobby the needs of vulnerable communities with concerned agencies, and help them understand and realize the futility of armed struggle under a communist ideology.

Lim said that Duterte also mentioned the upgrading of the military camp hospital by procuring high-end equipment that will aid wounded soldiers from the battlefield, such as an MRI, Gamma X-Ray, construction of a new hospital building, as well as educational benefits for military dependents.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2016/August/08/negor4.htm