Gov’t fulfills peace commitment, awards 3 resettlement areas

From the Visayan Daily Star (Dec 12): Gov’t fulfills peace commitment, awards 3 resettlement areas

The Department of Environment Natural Resources yesterday awarded three resettlement sites in Negros Occidental to former members of a breakaway rebel movement as a major step towards fulfilling commitments of the government to a peace agreement with them.

The target is to meet all commitments of the government to the peace agreement with the Rebolusyonaryong Partidong Manggagawa-Pilipinas/ Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade/Tabara-Paduano Group before the term of President Rodrigo Duterte ends, Milo Ibrado Jr., special assistant to the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, said.

After 18 years, at last government commitments to the peace process are being delivered, Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon said at the turnover rites at the provincial Capitol in Bacolod City yesterday.

The former rebels will also be covered by the Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Care Program of the provincial government, he said.

The RPM-P/RPA-ABB-TPG entered into a peace agreement with the Philippine government in the year 2000. The Visayas-based RPM-P/RPA/ABB has converted itself into the Kapatiran para sa Progresong Panlipunan (Brotherhood for Social Progress), described as a socio-economic and political organization pursuing social justice as a key to lasting peace and genuine progress.

The DENR turned over tenurial instruments for 178 hectares in Kabankalan City, 232 hectares in Cadiz City and 230 hectares in San Carlos City for resettlement sites of 330 of their 727 members nationwide, Veronica Tabara, RPM-P/RPA-ABB-TPG chairperson, said.

The Cadiz and San Carlos sites are covered by memorandums of agreement, and in Kabankalan City by a Community Based Forest Management Agreement, she added.

The resettlement areas will be known as peace and development sites where the former rebels will be provided with houses, livelihood and jobs, and tasked with reforestation and protecting the forests, she said.

Other resettlement sites in EB Magalona and Hinigaran in Negros Occidental, Antique, Aklan and Bukidnon are also in the pipeline, Tabara added.

Tabara said her group broke away from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army because they nolonger wanted to pursue a violent armed struggle to bring about change.

Community Resource Management Frameworks for the turned over sites will be drawn up, DENR Assistant Secretary Joan Lagunda said.

Government has, so far, hired 43 members of the breakaway rebel group in Panay and 58 in Negros as forest guards, she added.

Ibrado said that under the peace agreement, government has committed to providing shelter, livelihood, social protection and civil and political rights to the former rebels.

“We would like to finish the settlements next year through a multi-agency effort”, he also said.

As part of the peace process being awaited are the granting of amnesty by the Department of Justice to about 50 detained political prisoners yet to be convicted, and pardon to those convicted, Ibrado also said.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2018/December/12/topstory3.htm