4 ex-rebels get P65T livelihood, cash aid from the government

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Four former members of the New People’s Army in Negros Oriental received cash assistance of P65,000 each from the government, through its Comprehensive Livelihood Integrated Program.

The rebel returnees, two females and two males, whose identities are withheld for security reasons, got their checks during a ceremony Monday at the Capitol in this capital city of Negros Oriental.

Governor Roel Degamo led the awarding of the checks, together with Lieutenant Colonel Harold Pascua, commander of the 79th Infantry Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel John Oliver Gabun, executive officer of the 302nd Infantry Brigade, Provincial Social Welfare Officer Alice Legarde and Department of Interior and Local Government provincial head Dennis Quiñones.

Degamo welcomed and thanked the former rebels for putting their trust in the government, as he urged others still out in the underground movement to return to the folds of the law. He said that fighting for their cause through violent means was never healthy and beneficial to them.

The government has been open to peaceful means of settling disputes, said the governor, while calling the insurgents to lay down their arms and instead avail themselves of the CLIP, an incentive given to those wanting to have a fresh start in their lives from the hardships in the mountains.

The four was the first batch of rebel returnees in Negros Oriental this year to have received financial assistance. Last year, 33 were also given the same aid from the national government through the DILG.

The CLIP's financial aid covers P15,000 immediate cash assistance and P50,000 more for livelihood assistance for every rebel returnee-recipient, said Legarde, adding that the four have similar proposed livelihood project: Livestock raising.

"They have undergone proper training and will be under constant monitoring to ensure that the money they have received from the government would be put to good use," Legarde added. — Judy Flores Partlow (FREEMAN)