For a 25-year-period, former communist rebels in Aklan and Negros Occidental provinces can now develop their own upland communities.
Simon Elmer Colacion (DENR 6 / MANILA BULLETIN)
This is after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued a Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA) to selected groups of former members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA/ABB- Tabara Paduano Group).
Simon Elmer Colacion, DENR project coordinator, said the CBFMA is part of the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
The creation of Peace and Development Community (PDC) sites is going beyond giving livelihood to former rebels, which DENR-6 has previously hired them in protecting forestlands.
Colacion said the PDC sites are holistic approach that makes the former rebels fully support government’s initiatives and continue living peacefully. He also credited DENR-6 Regional Director Jim Sampulna for CBFMA, which is seen to hasten the process instead of waiting several years to use the land.
Negros Occidental has the biggest identified PDC sites with 641.64 hectares. These are found in the cities of Cadiz, Kabankalan and San Carlos.
The PDC sites in Ibajay town, Aklan province has a total area of 57.51 hectares.
Meanwhile, DENR-6 has hired 100 former rebels as forest guards for its national greening program in Aklan, Antique, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/12/21/aklan-negros-ex-rebels-to-cultivate-communities/
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