BACOLOD CITY – The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office of Negros Oriental turned over financial assistance amounting to P60,000 to 12 former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) last week.

TWELVE former New People’s Army rebels received a total of P60,000 in financial assistance in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental on Friday, May 10. (Photo courtesy of 62nd IB)
They each received P5,000 under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation of the PSWDO Protective Services Program in a ceremony at the Guihulngan Satellite Skills Development Center in Barangay Poblacion, Guihulngan City on Friday, May 10.
Two rebel returnees are in jail serving their case, according to the Army 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB).
Mayor Felomino Reyes, chairperson of the Guihulngan City Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict (GCTF-ELCAC), said the local government, police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) do not want to wage war.
It is not the answer to peace, Reyes said.
“Convince your colleagues, who are still in the mountains to return to the government,” Reyes appealed.