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Ex-rebels in Negocc, Panay Get P50-k Livelihood Grant

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Some 579 profiled members of the Kapatiran para sa Progresibong Panlipunan Inc. (Kapatiran) received livelihood assistance of PHP50,000 each from the national government in rites held at Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City, Negros Occidental over the weekend.

The recipients are former combatants of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPM-P/RPA/ABB) under the Tabara-Paduano Group (TPG) based in Negros Occidental and Panay Island, which is finalizing the closure of its peace agreement with the government.

Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said the national government has plans and programs for the organization after going through a long and difficult journey toward peace.

He said he hopes the grants received by its members would improve the livelihood of their respective families.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) has released a total of PHP30.65 million in livelihood grants, of which PHP24.85 million went to 463 recipients from Negros Occidental, and PHP5.8 million for 116 members from Panay.

As part of the former rebels’ socio-economic reintegration, the Livelihood Settlement Grants (LSG) provide each profiled member PHP50,000 to support the establishment and continuity of one’s livelihood.

During their decommissioning held in Capiz last September, the former combatants also received immediate cash assistance of PHP25,000 each.

The RPM-P/RPA-ABB TPG took on the name Kapatiran para sa Progresibong Panlipunan Inc. as part of its institutional transformation.

In February 1996, breakaway members of the New People’s Army (NPA) Negros Regional Party formed the RPM-P, and in April, the group announced the formation of the RPA as its military arm. The following year, the Nilo dela Cruz-led ABB joined forces with the RPA.

The RPM-P/RPA-ABB, which signed a peace agreement with the government on Dec. 6, 2000, later split into two — the TPG led by Veronica Tabara and Stephen Paduano, and the Nilo dela Cruz Group. Only the TPG continued the process of finalizing a draft closure agreement with the government.

Paduano, former national commander of the RPA-ABB and now a representative of Abang Lingkod Party-list, urged the Kapatiran members to sustain the gains of the peace process.

“It took us 23 years, and today is the first phase of the livelihood assistance of the government. We cannot afford to lose this opportunity to show the world that indeed, we can achieve lasting peace in the country,” the lawmaker said in a statement released by the OPPAP.

He was joined by Tabara, who chairs the Kapatiran, in witnessing the distribution of the livelihood grants, together with Galvez, Social Welfare Undersecretary Rene Glen Paje and Defense Undersecretary Cesar Yano.

Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade, who also witnessed the activity, said the release of the livelihood assistance to the former rebels clearly manifests the government’s commitment to fulfill its peace agreement with the group.

“Our government aims to alleviate the lives of the members of Kapatiran for them to have a better life in the mainstream society,” he added. (Nanette Guadalquiver ndb via pna)

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