By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) turned over a newly-constructed Halfway House in Negros Oriental last Monday.
It is the first temporary shelter in Central Visayas for former New People’s Army (NPA) rebels who undergo de-radicalization process before returning to the mainstream, according to the Army.
The blessing and turnover rites was led by Undersecretary Angelito De Leon, BALIK LOOB Task Force chairman, Lieutenant General Benedict Arevalo, commander of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Visayas Command, and DILG-7 director Leocadio Trovela, at the 302nd Infantry Brigade (IBde) headquarters in Camp Leon Kilat, Barangay Sta Cruz Viejo, Tanjay City.
The construction of the P5 million project started on April 5, 2022 and was completed in six months.
The building can house 10 former NPA rebels undergoing the reintegration and de-radicalization process.
The establishment of the Halfway House project was realized through the efforts of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) Committee, following the signing of a Tripartite Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the DILG, Department of National Defense (DND), and the provincial government on July 31, 2021.
Meanwhile, 10 former NPA rebels received cash assistance amounting to P65,000 each during the program, as well as an additional P5,000 cash assistance from the provincial government.
Eleven others, who yielded in 2021 also received P5,000 cash assistance.
These rebel returnees also received a sack of rice, livestock chicken, Tilapia fingerlings, and various fruit-bearing, and vegetable seedlings.
Government authorities expressed their sincerest gratitude to the former rebels for choosing the right path towards a new and productive life.
Also present were Brigadier General Leonardo Peña, 302nd IBde commander, Vice Governor Manuel Sagarbarria, Board Members Jessica Jane Villanueva and Carlo Degamo, Atty. Karen Lisette Molas, provincial administrator, Atty. Mary Grace Villegas, provincial legal officer, and all members of the Peace and Order Committee and Negros Oriental Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NOTF-ELCAC).
