101 ex-NPAs receive cash assistance

BAGUIO CITY — A total of 101 former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) who had surrendered have already received financial assistance under the government’s Comprehensive Local Integration Program (CLIP).

Records from the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) show that as of Oct. 31, 2017, most beneficiaries were from Abra with 37; Kalinga, 27; Mountain Province, 19; Ifugao, 17; and Baguio City with one.

The cash assistance packages to former rebels were distributed through the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The amount provided was P7.706 million aside from the P10 million worth in halfway houses established in Mountain Province and Kalinga.

According to RDC, the surrenderers are provided with administrative support, reintegration assistance, immediate assistance, livelihood assistance and firearm remuneration. Firearm remuneration is the scheme where a surrenderer gets a certain amount in exchange for his firearm, not just as a sign that he will no longer fight, but as proof that the rebel is returning to the government.

No SOMO Meanwhile, the AFP’s Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM) said yesterday that it has no plan of declaring a Christmas truce or ceasefire with the NPA this year.

Brigadier General Ernesto Ravina, acting chief of the SOLCOM, said military operations against insurgents in the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions are in force, unless the President declares a suspension of military operations (SOMO) for the Yuletide Season. (With a report from Danny J. Estacio)