BACOLOD CITY – The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) opened a newly constructed halfway house for rebel returnees in Negros Oriental on Monday, April 3.
The turnover was led by DILG-Central Visayas Director Leocadio Trovela, Undersecretary Angelito de Leon, Balik Loob Task Force chairman, Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Visayas Command, and Vice Gov. Manuel Sagarbarria.
VICE Gov. Manuel Sagarbarria (second from right), Undersecretary Angelito de Leon, Balik Loob Task Force chairman, Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo (left), commander of the AFP Visayas Command, and DILG-Central Visayas Director Leocadio Trovela open a halfway house for rebel returnees at the 302nd IBde headquarters in Camp Leon Kilat, Barangay Santa Cruz Viejo, Tanjay City, Negros Oriental on Monday, April 3. (Photo courtesy of 302nd IBde)
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It is located at the 302nd Infantry Brigade (IBde) headquarters in Camp Leon Kilat, Barangay Santa Cruz Viejo, Tanjay City.
The facility is the first halfway house in Central Visayas with a project cost of P5 million, according to the Army.
The 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.
The construction of the facility began on April 5, 2022 and was completed within six months.
It is a temporary shelter that can accommodate 10 former NPA rebels who are undergoing reintegration and de-radicalization process before returning to mainstream society.
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.
They also received a sack of rice, livestock chicken, tilapia fingerlings, and various fruit-bearing and vegetable seedlings.