TWENTY-FOUR former members of New People’s Army received a total of P305,000 under the government’s comprehensive local integration program (CLIP) during a brief ceremony held at the provincial coliseum in Davao del Sur yesterday morning.
2Lt. China Celina Castro, civil-military operation (CMO) officer of 73rd Infantry Battalion, said 13 surrenderees received P15,000 each while 11 former rebels got P10,000 each.
They will also each get P50,000 as livelihood assistance in the coming weeks.
The turnover of assistance was spearheaded by Davao del Sur Governor Douglas Cagas; provincial director Remedios Baldovino of Department of Interior and Local Government; Department of Social and Welfare Development official Geraldine Lano; and 1Lt. Edgar Oliva, Alpha Company commander of the 73rd IB.
Based on data, 103 former rebels from Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental and Sarangani Province already surrendered to 73rd IB since last year; 75 of them already received immediate and livelihood assistance worth P65,000 each. The rest are under process or some do not qualify in the requirements of the program.
Another P1.3 million worth of assistance was also awarded last year to the 20 former rebels who surrendered to the unit in 2013-2014.
CLIP is a national program of the government that seeks to contribute toward achieving the goal of permanent and peaceful closure of armed conflicts and non-state armed groups, particularly the NPAs.
“The livelihood assistance awarded to the former rebels (FRs) is a successful collaborative effort of the provincial government, PNP-Davao del Sur and 73IB in support to the unit’s mission and government’s effort of permanent and peaceful closure of all armed conflict in the country” Lt. Col. Ronnie Babac, the battalion commander, said.
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