Govt’s integration program for rebel returnees’ gains cited
The Philippine government’s integration program for rebel returnees proves to be a success, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Avelino I. Razon Jr. said on Monday.
Razon said a year after it was launched, the innovative Social Integration Program (SIP) is proving to be the most potent anti-insurgency weapon of the government without the use of guns and bullets.
He said as of Monday, a total of 548 rebels of the New People’s Army (NPA) have voluntarily surrendered to avail of the SIP scheme that have given them livelihood for their families.
He also said under this program, the government has released so far P109.6 million in livelihood funds for the 548 NPA rebel returnees with each one getting P20,000 as seed money to start a small business of their own.
“Many of these former rebels are now owners of sari-sari stores or tri-cycle operators,” he said.
“Others have bought hand tractors or working animals for their farms and some of them have formed cooperatives by pooling their resources together to put up a bigger business,” Razon added.
He said out of the 548 NPA rebels who have surrendered, 330 of them yielded their firearms with the government paying the corresponding amount ranging from P5,000 to as much as P50,000 each gun turned in.
Under the SIP, a rebel who surrenders an M-16 assault rifle or an equivalent caliber of other type of weapon, is paid P50,000 in addition to the P20,000, Razon said.
In addition, a rebel returnee may get another P50,000 in kind if he qualifies after under a seminar on livelihood program conducted by various government agencies such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), to name a few. (PNA)