OPAPRU and DOH sign accord to provide med assistance to ex-rebels, combatants
THE Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) announced that former rebels and decommissioned combatants will now have access to vital health services under the Department of Health’s (DOH) Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP).
This as the OPAPRU and the DOH signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on March 4 formalizing their partnership to implement the initiative.
As this developed, OPAPRU Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr. underscored that“health and peace must go together.”
He added that aside from the annual budget allocation of P58.8 million that has been allotted under OPAPRU’S budget to fund the Philhealth premiums of former rebels and decommissioned combatants, the MOA bolsters the provision of healthcare and other medical services to the beneficiaries.
Under the MAIFIP, the beneficiaries will be able to avail of health services in public hospitals throughout the country with financial and medical assistance provided by the national government.
The implementation of conflict sensitive health programs such, as the one to be carried out by OPAPRU and DOH through the MOA, will allow both agencies to work together to provide recipients with much-needed health services.
It is also seen to strengthen the government’s peace-building efforts, as it sends a clear and strong signal that it is determined to improve the lives of the beneficiaries and support their journey towards their complete and meaningful transformation.
The provision of socioeconomic assistance and services is among the key components of the Transformation and Normalization Programs that seek to sustain and build on the gains of the comprehensive Philippine peace process.
The Transformation Program is a community-driven intervention that is being implemented in parallel with the Local Peace Engagement (LPE) initiative, which aims to uplift the socioeconomic conditions of former rebels, their families, and communities.
On the other hand, the Normalization Program, which is under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), is designed to help decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation Front combatants return to mainstream society as peaceful and productive citizens.