Feature: Returning to the folds of society

From the Philippine Information Agency (Feb 21, 2019): Feature: Returning to the folds of society

MISAMIS ORIENTAL – The government is our refuge.

Over this, a former NPA propagandist from Misamis Oriental has returned to the refuge of the government after realizing life in the movement is not easy.

“Nakahunahuna ko balik sa gobyerno…gikapoy na mi didto. Ilang gisaad wala man natuman. Mahadlok na pud mi sa gubat didto…Gobyerno man sad ang dangpanan sa tanan,” she said. (I decided to return to the folds of the society…we are already tired in the mountains. We are also afraid of the encounters. They have not fulfilled what they have promised. The government is still our refuge)

Her task in the movement, aside from being a propagandist and recruiter, was to beg for food from farm tillers to survive. “Dili jud mi kakaon kung dili mi mangayo (we have to ask food from land tillers to survive), she narrated.

Deceit, lies

She, a mother of four, was promised to be provided with assistance to raise her children as, according to her, P700 will be given for every child if she joined the movement.

According to her, they were lured to join the movement and fallen prey to NPA deceit against the government.

“Ilang gadaoton ug balihon ang gobyerno. Sama na lamang sa katungod sa mag uuma. Sa ilang pag recruit, ila ipa saysay unsay problema gakasinati, ingon man usab, unsay may among panginabuhian ug mga produkto…Ako usa man sa gatanum sa ‘lawi,’ ang NPA recruiter maghisgot gamay ra kuno ang prisyo sa lawi ug sa dihang ibaligya na mahal na dayon. Matud pa, gitikasan ang prisyo sa tigpalit,” she narrated while she was still tilling ‘lawi’ and making ‘lawi’ broom as her source of living before joining the movement.

(They are slandering the government. While recruiting, they would ask us what problems are we encountering as well as our source of living. I’m a tiller of ‘lawi.’ The NPA recruiters would talk about the price of lawi. According to them, the farm gate price of ‘lawi’ broom is cheap compared to the market price)

Constantly brainwashed

It took six year for her to finally go down from the mountains and surrender as they were constantly brainwashed about perceived social ills.

But, she said life in the mountains of Bukidnon and in Claveria town and Gingoog City in Misamis Oriiental, is very hard and “walay kalipay nga matagamtaman labi na karon wala nay gasuporta nga mga tawo sa amoa labina karon Martial Law. Naay adlaw wala na mi gakaunon, inom na lang sa tubig para maka lahutay.”



Brigadier General Franco Nemesio M Gacal AFP congratulates former rebel who surrendered to the government and now a beneficiary of e-CLIP. (PIA10)

(No happiness would be felt especially now the people no longer support us and the Martial Law is declared in Mindanao. There are days we don’t have anything to eat; we just drink water instead to survive)

On the other hand, NPA leaders told us that those who will go down from the mountains would be killed but she said, “Wala may nahitabo (no such incident happened) when they decided to surrender.

Positive changes

Her family used to hurdle unpaved and muddy trails 21 kilometers from their village to the town proper in Misamis Oriental which now, she said the road is wide enough and can be accessed with big trucks.

Also, basic services are now accessible such as health and education.

“Okay na ang tabang kay naa nay Philhealth. Dili na usab lisud pa eskwela sa tabang the gobyerno (The support now are okay with the Philhealth. Sending children to school is no longer a problem given the support of the government),” she said.

With the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) of the government, she said they are also bracing a comfortable life.

In February 2019, the E-CLIP Committee in Region 10 awarded cash benefits to the 31 former rebels (FRs) in a ceremony held in Cagayan de Oro City.

Checks amounting to P65,000 as livelihood and immediate cash assistance were handed over to each of the FRs in a ceremony that was participated by E-CLIP committee chair of Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Vincente B. Emano represented by lawyer Neil Pacana, provincial legal officer; Brigadier General Franco Nemesio M Gacal AFP representing Undersecretary Reynaldo B. Mapagu, chairperson of the Task Force Balik-Loob together with Colonel Edgardo Y De Leon, 403rd Brigade commander and partner agencies from Task Force- Balik-Loob—Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The Provincial Government of Misamis Oriental also shelled out P5,000 financial assistance to FRs.

In just about two months, from January 2019 to date, a total of 223 FRs have surrendered to the units under the 4th Infantry Division. These FRs are currently undergoing the E-CLIP process for their benefits.

Colonel De Leon said the E-CLIP is not forever, it is a program of the government with a termination. He called on the FRs and the media present to further disseminate the program to reach the active NPA members in the region for them to avail the program.

Pacana, meanwhile, emphasized on prioritizing tourism. Everything will follow to include development. “But how can we prioritize tourism if peace and order cannot be achieved,” he said.

“The cycle of CPP-NPA recruitment must be stopped, hopefully the assistance of the government to the FRs will pave way to change their lives for the better and become good examples for their former comrades to go back to mainstream society,” BGen Gacal said.

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1018795