DILG to construct more processing centers for rebel surrenderees

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will construct more processing centers or halfway houses for rebel surrenderees, as well as its other programs for former rebels, in preparation for the planned localized peace talks.

DILG officer-in-charge Eduardo Año stressed the communist insurgency will not hinder their efforts to address the urgent needs of former rebels who decided to rejoin mainstream society.

“We are hopeful for the success of the localized peace talks in light of the announcement of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) that they would rather oust the President than talk peace. We will never give up on peace, so we are preparing for the return of communist rebels in any way we can,” he said.

A halfway house is a temporary residence that serves as the processing center for former rebels. This could be a new structure that is established in provinces or highly urbanized cities that have expressed the need for such facility.

“These former rebels are risking everything by surrendering and we want to make sure that government is there every step of the way in their journey towards healing and reintegration in the society. Halfway houses are where their new life begins,” Año said.

He said local government units would be allocated financial assistance from the Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) for the construction of the halfway houses that will serve as venue for “rehabilitation and healing sessions, and education and skills training activities.”

DILG has recently issued a memorandum circular spelling out the criteria for selecting local government unit in the program.

“A halfway house will serve as a reintroduction of former rebels to society. Here we will try to equip them through skills training. This is the reason why we will select the LGU that will be our partner in training,” Año explains. Año also mentioned that each halfway house will be allotted P5 million, which can only be accessed after complying with the procedural requirements to include a complete assessment of the provincial/ highly urbanized city government, signing of a memorandum of agreement, and submission of a project proposal and supporting documents.

“Interested LGUs, being the implementing partners, must be able to comply with all of the requisites provided by the DILG guidelines, for as much as we want to cater to all applications, we are still dealing with public funds,” Año said.

Nine provinces were already granted P5 million each as implementing partners, which was used to construct processing centers at Kalinga, Mountain Province, Masbate, Negros Oriental, Northern Samar, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and North Cotabato.