BACOLOD CITY -- Twenty-five former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) received P250,000 cash assistance from the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, Feb. 14.
According to the Army, the former rebels received P10,000 each as capital for a small business to sustain their daily needs while their Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) benefits are being processed.
The implementation of the Assistance to Individual in Crisis Situation (AICS) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through the local government, intends to provide immediate support to the families displaced by the local armed conflict.
Aside from the cash aid, they also received hygiene kits, family kits, sleeping and kitchen kits.
Col. Orlando Edralin, commander of the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde), lauded the former rebels for making the right decision in returning to the folds of the law.
He thanked the local government for supporting the whole-of-nation approach to reduce and eradicate the insurgency in central Negros.