DAVAO CITY (PIA)—As part of the Transformation Program, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) gives livelihood to former rebels in the Davao region.
Oliver Binancilan, chief of the localized peace engagement in Regions IX, X, XI, and XIII, said that through the livelihood provided, “the peace program of the government is working… [even if it] was only implemented last year.”
According to him, even some agencies like the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) are cooperating in institutionalizing livelihood assistance.
“We rounded them so that other agencies of the government could directly come up with assistance to former rebels. We also coordinate with the provincial peace and order councils and the provincial development councils so that the efforts of these agencies [be] recorded,” Benancilan said.
“All of the FRs in Davao Oriental who passed the halfway house received the promised remuneration of the surrendered firearms,” he added.
Ariane Jane Ramos, alias “Kumander Marikit,” said the declaration of an insurgency-free Davao has a domino effect on many areas, even more with the declaration of Executive Order No. 70 focused on military operations and initiatives for the former rebels.
“We are yet to experience the localized peace engagement and transformation program by the OPAPRU [that is] worth pursuing, especially since one of the objectives of the program is to unify all agency concerns for the welfare of the former rebels,” she said. (JSGD/ PIA-XI)
