HONORING FALLEN SOLDIERS. Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. (center) leads the wreath-laying ceremony to honor soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for the nation's peace and freedom in a ceremony at the 5th Infantry Division in Upi, Gamu, Isabela on Tuesday (Sept. 17, 2019). Galvez also joined Cordillera elders in commemorating the peace agreements signed between the government and the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army in 1986. (Photo by Villamor Visaya Jr.)
CAMP MELCHOR DELA CRUZ, Gamu, Isabela -- Former rebels of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) who have been integrated into the Philippine Army have lauded the creation of a body that will keep track of the progress made in the implementation of the peace agreements signed by the group and the national government.
Aside from the opportunity for them to become part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the CPLA has also been tapped by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) in creating the Joint Evaluation and Monitoring Committee (JEMC).
“We were given a second chance. The AFP waived requirements for us such as age, height, marital status, among others. They embraced us wholeheartedly,” now Army Cpl. Revaliza Gulingan told the Philippine News Agency early this week.
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr., who led a program to commemorate the signing of the peace pact here, said this mechanism “will serve as the venue wherein the parties can jointly develop comprehensive and sustainable programs to help transform former combatants, their families, and communities.”
“It is the ultimate desire of the President (Duterte) and to fulfill the government's obligations to all signed peace agreements, and to ensure that the people will benefit from it," he said.
"Because the government has a mandate to take care of the general welfare of the people, we have to look for ways to help them,” he added.
Galvez led the wreath-laying to honor Army soldiers killed in the line of duty and the unveiling of the marker to memorialize the contribution of the CPLA fighters who fought side-by-side with government forces against the communists for 33 years.
He said he will propose a concept similar to the Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism on Normalization being implemented for decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation Front members, wherein key government agencies are pooling their expertise and resources to help the former combatants and their families reintegrate to mainstream society as peaceful and productive civilians.
“We will look at the welfare not only of the former combatants but also their families and their communities,” he said.
Galvez said the special intervention will include “unreached former members, widowers and next of kin of martyred former members.”
The funds for the initiative will be lodged with the government’s Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan or PAMANA, which is the national government's convergence program that extends development interventions to isolated, hard-to-reach and conflict-affected communities, to ensure they are not left behind in the development process.
Galvez noted that the peace process in the provinces of Kalinga, Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, Benguet, and Mountain Province will enhance the approaches and strategies that are in line with the implementation of Executive Order 70, the President's whole-of-nation approach, with local counterparts.
Joining Galvez during the ceremonies were Maj. Gen. Pablo M. Lorenzo, 5th Infantry Division commander, and Brig. Gen. Bismarck D. Soliba, who is recognized as the most active senior military officer from the Cordillera, as well as World War II veterans.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1080811
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