98 rebels surrender in Antique under whole-of-nation approach

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 25, 2024): 98 rebels surrender in Antique under whole-of-nation approach (By Annabel Consuelo Petinglay)

SUCCESSFUL ELCAC. Antique Police Provincial Office Deputy Director for Operations Lt. Col. Angelo Pueblos (second from left) reports on the successful implementation of the whole-of-the-nation approach in the province on Thursday (July 25, 2024). He said 98 members of the New People’s Army (NPA) surrendered from 2023 until July 24 in Antique province. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The government’s whole-of-the-nation approach or End to Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program encouraged 98 rebels in Antique to return to the fold of law since 2023, according to the Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO).

APPO Deputy Director for Operations, Lt. Col. Angelo Pueblos, said 44 of the former rebels surrendered in 2023 and 58 for this year.

Data from the Antique Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office showed that as of today, 43 former rebels have received assistance under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, consisting of PHP50,000 as livelihood or reintegration assistance, PHP15,000 as immediate assistance, and remuneration of their surrendered firearms.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also extended PHP20,000 under the Sustainable Livelihood Program.

Pueblos said the DSWD, through its provincial counterpart, is still profiling the remaining surrenderees so that they could qualify for the package of assistance under the ECLIP.

“Not all of the surrenderees have been issued with the Joint Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police Intelligence Committee (JAPIC) Certificates,” Pueblos said in his report on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Arturo Balgos Jr, commanding officer of the 61st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, said the number of surrenderees proves that the ELCAC program had been successful in dismantling the Southern Front Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) that operates in municipalities of San Remigio, Sibalom, Hamtic and in the adjacent municipalities of Iloilo province.

“There is no more fund generation or extortion activities among the businessmen in Antique now,” Balgos said.

He said that they continue to appeal to the remaining insignificant number of the communist terrorist group (CTG) to surrender and return to their normal lives.

The Philippine Army will remain in Antique or Panay province to sustain their program and prevent the revitalization of the CTG, he added.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1229826