Housing project for ex-rebels in Samar to start in August

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 28, 2023): Housing project for ex-rebels in Samar to start in August (By Roel Amazona)

PEACE VILLAGE.The proposed site of Peace Village in San Jose de Buan, Samar. The housing project for former rebels will start in August to help them rebuild their lives shattered by years of arm struggle. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Army)

TACLOBAN CITY – A housing project for former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the interior San Jose De Buan town in Samar will start in August to help them rebuild their lives shattered by years of arm struggle.

Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Samar area manager Imelda Bonifacio said members of the joint project committee agreed to hold a groundbreaking for the project next month.

“This is another whole-of-nation approach initiative where local governments, various government agencies, government officials, and even the private sector have been working together to realize the project,” Bonifacio said in a phone interview on Friday.

At least 17 out of 38 former rebels are the priority for the housing project to be funded initially by the municipal and provincial governments.

A total of PHP4 million has been set aside for the construction of permanent shelter for the former rebels, PHP2.5 million from the provincial government through Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan and PHP1.5 million from the municipal government through Mayor Joaquin Elizalde.

Priorities are homeless former rebels, those with wives and children, and residents of San Jose de Buan town.

To be called Peace Village, the project located near the town center will provide free housing within a 100-square-meter lot to be awarded to each identified former rebel, who opted not to return to their respective communities.

The proposed village will have permanent houses for former rebels, a training center, and a farm lot for agriculture-related livelihood activities.

In the future, it will also accommodate former rebels from nearby Samar towns.

The house is designed semi-concrete and amakan (woven split-bamboo mats) with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room.

Army engineers developed the housing site and designed the houses.

This week, the OPAPRU held an orientation for former rebels to help them understand the basic concepts of peace and conflict and a deeper appreciation of the conflict-sensitive and peace-promotion approach.

The orientation seeks to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of housing project implementation.

Partner agencies of the project like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will train former rebels in carpentry for application during the construction phase.

The project’s resource generation committee led by the Army’s 801st Brigade has been meeting with different government officials and private individuals to extend financial support to the project.

Since 2020, several active NPA members and staunch allies yielded to authorities and turned over several firearms in San Jose de Buan.

The fourth class town with a population of nearly 8,000 is one of the NPA’s strongholds in Samar Island, considering its strategic location within the tri-boundaries of Northern, Eastern, and Samar provinces.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1206655