The Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) Committee of Quezon City awarded financial assistance to four (4) former Militia ng Bayan members and additional firearms remuneration for three (3) former rebels in an awarding ceremony held on April 8, 2019, at the Quezon City Hall.
The seven former rebels are confirmed members of the CPP-NPA-NDF who had chosen to return to the fold of the law and reintegrate into the society. The first three of the former rebels had previously received immediate and livelihood assistance in October 2018. Meanwhile, the four former members of the Militia ng Bayan were assisted by the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, who were subsequently enrolled into E-CLIP by the Quezon City E-CLIP Committee.
“Sa ating mga former rebels, mga dating Militia ng Bayan, sana ay gamitin n’yo ang mga benepisyong inyong natanggap ngayong araw para makapagsimula muli ng inyong buhay. Ang perang natanggap nyo ay hindi kabayaran dahil kayo ay bumalik sa lipunan. Sa halip, tulong iyan ng gobyerno natin at tugon sa pagnanais niyong makapamuhay muli nang mapayapa at makabalik sa inyong mga mahal sa buhay,” TFBL Secretariat Head LTC Aris Antonio told the former rebels in a message he delivered for Defense Undersecretary for Civil, Veterans and Retiree Affairs, and Task Force Balik Loob (TFBL) Chair Reynaldo B. Mapagu.
For his part, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista appealed to the former rebels, “‘Yung mga kasama natin dito ngayon, baka maaari pa kayong mag-impluwensya ng iba niyo pang kasamahang nandun pa, na samantalahin ang magandang programang ito ng pamahalaan.”
“Kami po ay nagpapasalamat kay Mayor Herbert Bautista at sa lahat ng mga ahensya ng gobyerno na tumutulong po sa amin. Handa po kaming tumulong sa gobyerno na maghikayat pa ng aming mga kasamahan na magbalik-loob at makita rin namin ang totoong buhay at makamit namin ang kapayapaan,” one of the former rebels said as response.
E-CLIP is the flagship program of the Duterte administration that seeks to effect social healing and national unity through a whole-of-nation approach towards the higher objective of having just and lasting peace. It provides social equity to former members of the CPP-NPA-NDF and the Militia ng Bayan by devising a different modality of providing benefits and services to the FRs, in order to reintegrate them into mainstream society. These benefits do not serve as an end, but rather a means to aid the FRs in securing a foothold in restarting their lives.
Unlike previous government rebel reintegration programs, the E-CLIP provides a wider array of benefits based on the particular needs of FRs and their families such as financial assistance, housing, education, skills training, healthcare, legal assistance, and among others through a convergence of various national and local government agencies.
Established through Administrative Order No. 10 of President Duterte, the TFBL includes the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of National Defense, Office of the President, National Housing Authority and the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Peace Process as among its lead agencies, and other government agencies and instrumentalities as partner agencies that may be tapped to provide additional benefits and services to FRs.
