Former rebels in Davao del Sur receive livelihood assistance under CLIP

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 9): Former rebels in Davao del Sur receive livelihood assistance under CLIP

A total of 14 former members of New People’s Army (NPA) on Monday received a total of PHP700,000.00 in livelihood assistance from the government.

The livelihood assistance was part of the Comprehensive Local Integration Program (CLIP) of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) provided to former rebels who decide to go back to the mainstream society to live peaceful lives.

Monday’s awarding was facilitated by the provincial government of Davao del Sur during the flag raising ceremony held at Provincial Coliseum, in Digos City, Davao del Sur.

The ceremony was led by Davao del Sur Governor Douglas Cagas who also served as chair of CLIP committee together with DILG director Remedios Baldovino.

The handing of livelihood assistance was also witnessed by Department of Social and Welfare Development Office Officer Geraldine Lano; Lt. Col. Allan Odal, 1002nd Brigade Executive Officer and Lt. Col. Ronnie B Babac Commander 73rd IB.

The spokesperson of the 10th Infantry Division, Capt. Rhyan Batchar, said each of the former rebels received checks worth PHP50,000.00.

This is not the first time that former rebels received livelihood support from the government, Batchar said.

Last month, three batches of former rebels received their livelihood assistance from the government – the first batch was the 24 former rebels who received a total of PHP305,000.00 assistance from CLIP program; the second batch composed of 13 former rebels also received PHP15,000.00 each; and the third batch of 11 former rebels that received PHP10,000 each from the government.

To date, a total of 106 former rebels from the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental and Sarangani have already surrendered to 73rd IB since last year.

Of the total surrenderers, 75 already received immediate and livelihood assistance worth PHP65,000.00 each with a total sum amount of PHP4,875,000.00.

More assistance is presently being processed to provide assistance to those who do not qualify for the requirements of the program.

Another PHP1.3 million CLIP assistance was also awarded last year to the 20 former rebels who surrendered to 73rd IB for the period 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.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=953752