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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Wednesday, April 5, 2017
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ILOILO City – Seven members of the New People’s Army (NPA) from the Iloilo towns of Janiuay, Leon and Igbaras received financial assistance from the government.
The seven voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. Each received a P65,000 check from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Iloilo.
The financial assistance for their livelihood was sourced from the Comprehensive Local Integration Program (CLIP) of the DILG.
“Sa P65,000 ang P50, 000 para sa livelihood assistance and the P15,000 for immediate assistance,” said DILG-Iloilo director Teodora Sumagaysay.
Lieutenant Colonel Leonardo Peṅa, commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion, witnessed the recent turnover of checks at the Iloilo provincial capitol.
The seven ex-rebels were the first batch to receive the assistance this year. More will be receiving aid once the necessary requirements were completed.
“We still have one pending incentive – the firearms remuneration worth P80,000 but indi pa naton ma-release subong pending sa ila mga requirements and documents,” added Sumagaysay.
Last year, 20 Iloilo rebel returnees were given the same financial assistance. For the firearms they surrendered, they were given additional incentives.
Sumagaysay said the help extended by the government to the rebel returnees does not end in the financial aid.
“Monitoring is being done by the Philippine Army and Department of Social Welfare and Development. Gina-check naton if indeed ang ginahatag sa ila nga kwarta is being used for the intended purpose,” she said.
Rebels in Panay Island marked the 48th anniversary of NPA’s founding this March 29.
“NPA-Panay units have widened their areas of operation and maintained their strongholds. They reached out to the wider mass base of farmers and peasants, organizing them and launching livelihood programs, boosting production and pricing, defending human rights and maintaining peace,” read part of the statement of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Panay regional committee.
The NPA is the armed wing of the CPP.
The Panay regional committee also claimed a surge in the number of youths joining the revolutionary movement as full-time NPA fighters./PN
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