5 ex-NPA rebels get livelihood aid in Aurora

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 20, 2020): 5 ex-NPA rebels get livelihood aid in Aurora (By Jason De Asis)

LIVELIHOOD AID. Edna Dizon (right), provincial director of the Department of Trade and Industry in Aurora, and Lt. Col. Reandrew Rubio, commander of the Army's 91st Infantry Battalion (left), turn over the negosyo starter kits to former New People's Army members in Baler, Aurora on Monday (Oct. 19, 2020). The former rebels also received piglets with feeds and groceries for a mini sari-sari store. (Photo courtesy of 91st Infantry Battalion)

BALER, Aurora – Five former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) who surrendered to the government in this capital town of Aurora received on Monday livelihood assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

DTI provincial director Edna Dizon said the ex-rebels received negosyo starter kits worth PHP10,000 each for them to start their new source of livelihood.

The move is part of the DTI’s “Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa” program, in support of the implementation of Executive Order 70 creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC).

“The dispersal of livelihood assistance to former rebels is part of the DTI’s initiative aims to help them return to the community and live peacefully with their loved ones,” Dizon.

The former rebels received piglets with feeds and groceries for a mini sari-sari store in a simple awarding ceremony at the headquarters of the Philippine Army’s 91st Infantry “Sinagtala” Battalion (91IB) in Barangay Calabuanan, this town.

Lt. Col. Reandrew Rubio, 91IB commander, thanked the DTI for helping them in the efforts to support the former rebels while the government prepares them for reintegration into the mainstream and live normal lives.

“We would like to thank DTI-Aurora for the livelihood starter kit that benefited five former rebels who recently surrendered to our unit. This is a classic example of a whole-of-nation approach wherein all government agencies, including private sectors, are working hand-in-hand to address the root cause of insurgency and in support of the implementation of EO 70 End Local Communist Armed Conflict,” Rubio said.

EO 70 institutionalized a whole-of-nation approach in obtaining exclusive and sustainable peace-giving as an effective solution against communist-terrorists.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1119079