29 ex-NPA rebels get E-CLIP aid in Zambo Norte

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 24, 2022): 29 ex-NPA rebels get E-CLIP aid in Zambo Norte (By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.)

CASH AID. Twenty-nine former New People's Army rebels receive a PHP1.88-million Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program assistance from the provincial government of Zamboanga del Norte on Tuesday (Feb. 22, 2022). Each of them got PHP65,000 cash aid which was released during the 1st quarter meeting of the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. (Photo courtesy of the 102Bde)

The Zamboanga del Norte provincial government, through the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), has released financial assistance to 29 former New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, a top military official announced Thursday.

Brig. Gen. Leonel Nicolas, Army’s 102nd Infantry Brigade (Bde) commander, said each of the 29 former rebels received PHP65,000 financial assistance for a total of PHP1.88 million.

The benefits included PHP15,000 immediate cash assistance and PHP50,000 livelihood assistance for the former NPAs to rebuild their lives as they return to mainstream society.

Nicolas said the ex-rebels received the E-CLIP benefit during the 1st Quarter Zamboanga Del Norte Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict meeting on Tuesday.

He said some of the former rebels will also receive firearm remuneration based on the valuation of the firearms they have surrendered upon the completion of the processing of their documents.

“Contrary to the propaganda teachings to us inside the armed struggle that soldiers will kill us if we surrender, it seems that the enemy we have known for so long is the most precious allies who will help us return to our families,” one of the recipients, alias Ka Peewee, said in a statement.

Peewee was a former leader of the NPA’s HQ-KALAW under the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee (WMRPC).

Meanwhile, Nicolas said the surrender of the remaining members of the WMRPC will finally put an end to the decades-long insurgency problem in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

“The doors of the 102Bde together with our partner stakeholders are always open for those who wish to give peace a chance and end this futile armed struggle that has cost the lives of many Filipino soldiers, innocent civilians, and vulnerable sectors,” Nicolas said.

The government is currently pursuing the 52 remaining members of the WMRPC mostly monitored in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental provinces.

The Communist Party of the Philippines - NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168494