The Department of Social Welfare and Development-6 distributed financial aid worth P200,000 to 15 former rebels during a ceremony in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, on Wednesday, July 17.
Five former rebels received P20,000 each under the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), and 10 received P10,000 each under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) Program, the 94th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army said.
The financial aid is part of the Army’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) of the City Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (CTF-ELCAC).
The ceremony was lead by the City Social Welfare Development Office (CSWDO) together with the Army and some officials from the local government unit.
Lt.Col. Ziegfred Tayaban, 94IB Commanding Officer, said that the financial aid is their commitment to help the former rebels reintegrate in the society and live normal lives.
“I urge the former rebels to help us convince the remaining New People’s Army (NPA) members to return to the law and be with their families”, Tayaban said.*