CAMP BANCASI, Butuan City – The military is expecting more New People’s Army (NPA) terrorists to surrender after the National Housing Authority (NHA) announced the allocation of P1 billion worth of fund for the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) housing assistance for rebel returnees.
The Civil Military Operations (CMO) Officer of 402nd Brigade Maj. Francisco P. Garello, Jr. told The Manila Bulletin on Wednesday that this new development came about after the Task Force Balik Loob Assessment and Update Meeting held a virtual conference at the headquarters of the 402nd Brigade here last October 21.
According to Garello, Task Force Balik Loob, led by its Mindanao Coordinator Lt. Col. Ruel B. Romorosa, conducted a follow up visit and met with the provincial E-CLIP committee members under the 402nd Brigade’s area of responsibility (AOR) covering the provinces of Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte in Caraga region and Misamis Oriental in Northern Mindanao.
The visit aimed to assess the effectiveness on the implementation of the E-CLIP in defeating the terrorist group, collate best practices, update on E-CLIP accomplishments and obtain issues and concerns from the different units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and E-CLIP Committee member agencies.
Romorosa said that the success of E-CLIP depends on the utmost commitment of all stakeholders, particularly the provincial governors as chairmen of their respective committees.
“The success and failure of the E-CLIP implementation is the responsibility of the provincial governor. E-CLIP committees must endeavor to operationalize the halfway houses and provide report during the peace and order council meetings and other fora so that gaps, challenges and issues on the implementation of E-CLIP will be easily conveyed and addressed,” he said.
During the activity, E-CLIP committee member agencies presented updates on their interventions for rebel returnees, and raised concerns over the action of Task Force Balik Loob.
The NHA, during its presentation announced the initial approval of housing assistance, and released a check worth P450,000 for two former rebels from Caraga region.
Likewise, it was learned that the P1 billion allocated for E-CLIP was approved by the NHA Board on July 25, 2018.
This was reported by the NHA Caraga E-CLIP Focal Person Emma Katherine Nono when pressed about the seemingly slow and delayed implementation of its housing assistance due to the strict requirements being asked from the rebel returnees.
“A Memorandum Circular No. 2019-041 was already proposed for its approval regarding the supplemental guidelines relaxing the requirements for FRs to avail the housing assistance,” Nono explained.
“We recognize the necessity of the request of our partner agencies and the situation of our former rebels who have the difficulty in securing documents, thus, the NHA deemed it proper to relax the titled lot provision to avail the housing assistance worth P450,000 and P100, 000.00, respectively, for those with lots and those needing repairs,” she added.
The 402nd Brigade has a total of 222 former rebels, who have been awarded with E-CLIP, while 219 were not yet awarded, and 83 were still up for E-CLIP enrolment, Garello added.