Rebel returnees get financial aid from Capitol

Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Emano yesterday, December 4, has vowed to extend financial aid on top of the national government’s monetary assistance to communist rebels who will return to the folds of the law.

Emano said this after the distribution of P4,000 financial assistance to each of the 13 former members of the New Peoples Army (NPA) who turned themselves in to the authorities in Misamis Oriental.

“Naa ko inyong maduolan kung mapapag kamo. Balik kamo sa ako,” Emano said.

The governor was assisted by the officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Northern Mindanao and the 58th Infantry Battalion.

Emano said the money that the provincial government gave could already help the former Maoist guerrillas to start their lives anew.

He also assured that his office will accommodate each one of them should they ask for livelihood assistance from the capitol.

However, the capitol’s top official has asked the beneficiaries to forever abandon the armed struggle, saying more opportunities are available in the province so they can live a decent life.

The national government has also made sure that NPA combatants who wish to surrender could avail the DILG’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) in partnership with local government units.

The military has claimed that the army’s Community Support Program and the promised assistance have opened the door and led the NPA fighters return to the mainstream. Alwen Saliring