The AFP is big on compelling NPA fighters to surrender. Many have and have availed of the myriad of benefits awaiting them. But there is a problem. They need to first be deradicalized before reintegrating back into society.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1213532 |
Former rebels (FRs) need to undergo deradicalization first before they are reintegrated into mainstream society, a Negros Oriental official said on Monday.
Hilton Edrial, chief of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), said FRs must be prepared physically, emotionally, mentally, and psychologically to avoid culture shock once they return to their communities.
Edrial said it was one of the issues that surfaced during a benchmarking activity in Davao City recently, where a multi-agency team visited the Happy Home halfway house there.
The team included representatives of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) - Negros Oriental, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the PSWDO, and the Provincial Engineer’s Office, among others.
Edrial said they learned from the Happy Home management that many FRs who returned to their communities without undergoing deradicalization usually turned “violent.”
However, the halfway house lacks qualified personnel who can conduct deradicalization.
Other setbacks in the delayed occupancy of the facility include the absence of an administrative office, electricity and water connections, and an operational plan.
“We need a re-entry plan to recalibrate how the halfway house can be fully operational,” he added.
What an amazing revelation. This half-way house is simply not equipped to handle reintegrating and deradicalizing former rebels. As a result some of them have turned violent. One wonders what the situation is like in other half-way homes built to house former rebels.
How many former rebels have turned violent? They don't say but this week a former rebel was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assassinating a mining executive.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1860746/ex-rebel-gets-10-years-in-jail-for-agusan-sur-mining-exec-slay |
The confessed killer of a mining executive in Agusan del Sur was meted a 10-year prison term by a court in this town on Wednesday, Nov. 15, two years after the victim’s death.
Provincial prosecutor Ceferino Dino Paredes said Jeffrey Mamerto, a former New People’s Army guerrilla, pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of homicide, instead of murder, as he entered into a plea bargaining agreement during a pre-trial hearing at the Regional Trial Court Branch 6.
As a result, the court sent Mamerto to prison for 10 years, Paredes added.Several weeks before Wednesday’s pre-trial hearing, Mamerto executed a judicial affidavit owning-up to the kill job against Afdal for a promised reward of P50,000.
In his confession, Mamerto also pointed to three more co-conspirators, one of whom he tagged as the mastermind. This became the basis for filing a complaint for murder against three more suspects at the provincial prosecutor’s office in October.
The PNP says Mamerto surrendered in 2019.
The PNP added that Mamerto is also a former member of the New People’s Army but return to the fold back in 2019 as part of “Task Force Balik-Loob” of the government.
https://www.facebook.com/110089817183818/photos/a.110114937181306/434619504730846/?type=3
An official of the DSWD says they cannot help these former rebels if they do not help themselves and sustain their transformation into good citizens.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1213767 |
A Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) official on Thursday said the agency is all set to provide social protection packages to former rebels (FRs) and former violent extremists (FVEs) who are undergoing reintegration to mainstream society.
Alan Tanjusay, DSWD undersecretary for Inclusive-Sustainable Peace and Special Concerns (ISPSC), assured the FRs and FVEs more opportunities to sustain their reintegration await them along and after the process.
During an interview with "Balik-Loob sa Pagbabago" on DWDD (1134kHz) AFP Radio, Tanjusay called on FRs and FVEs to think “beyond” the immediate assistance they have received under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) to fully sustain their transformation.
“If they are business-minded, if they have the entrepreneurial drive to make their products more attractive, these will have longer effects on their SLP),” Tanjusay said.
Once they qualify to the existing program guidelines, the DSWD would be offering them comprehensive support, such as debriefing, psychosocial assistance, transportation, food provisions, and social welfare programs such as the SLP, the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program, and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Tanjusay also underscored the importance of the participation of FRs and FVEs in the reintegration process.
“You cannot help our countrymen who are in need if they lack self-realization to strive and persevere. True change comes when you empower an individual and develop their potential,” he said.
E-CLIP is the holistic package of benefits that FRs and FVEs can avail of, such as livelihood, medical, education, housing, and legal assistance to help them reintegrate and live normal lives in the mainstream society.
The program is part of the government’s efforts to end communist insurgency in the country through the attainment of just and lasting peace using the whole-of-nation approach as envisioned by Executive Order No. 70, series of 2018.
Has anyone in the government thought that maybe they surrendered just for the money? Maybe they heard about the government's bribery program, the NTF-ELCAC, and decided to avail of the free housing and other benefits without realizing it meant they would have to reintegrate back into society and be good citizens?
This week Ian Fry, the UN Special Rapporteur, visited the Philippines and gave his recommendation that the NTF-ELCAC be abolished and the anti-terror law overturned.
 |
| https://globalnation.inquirer.net/222679/un-rapporteur-to-govt-repeal-antiterror-law-abolish-anti-red-task-force |
United Nations Special Rapporteur Ian Fry urged the government on Wednesday to revoke the Anti-Terrorism Act and abolish its anticommunist task force, noting how both were facilitating human rights violations and the harassment of environmental defenders.
“The government needs to create a clean slate around its approach to antiterrorism and revise the laws to make them appropriate for the circumstances occurring now, and not to use the laws to harass, vilify and kill environmental human rights defenders,” Fry said in a press briefing.
The international environmental law and policy expert spoke on the last day of his 10-day visit to the country to study and identify how the adverse impacts of climate change were affecting the “full and effective enjoyment of human rights.”Citing “horrific stories” from civil society groups and indigenous peoples (IPs) organizations who were subjected to attacks, he suggested that the government disband the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) “because it … is operating beyond its original mandate and is Red-tagging people from the community.”
Fry said that during his consultations, he heard testimonies from civil society organizations and even church leaders who were attacked, Red-tagged and their assets ordered frozen—actions by the military which the UN expert said were “totally unreasonable.”
He stressed the need to investigate previous NTF-Elcac operations in addition to reported cases of extrajudicial killings.Fry also recommended the formulation of a truth and reconciliation process, noting that “there [were] clearly people who suffered dramatically as a consequence of the persecution of environmental rights defenders and there needs to be a process to properly review the effects of the actions of the military.”
Fry will present his formal report to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2024, which will provide feedback to the government through communication or exchange of letters.
He added that while it was still up to the government to heed the recommendations, failure to do so would have its “biggest impact” on the country’s international image.
Several officials have spoken out against these proposals saying his report is incomplete because he did not even consult with he NTF-ELCAC to get their side.
 |
| https://globalnation.inquirer.net/222786/ph-officials-call-out-un-rapporteur-who-wants-ntf-elcac-abolished |
Speaking at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon news briefing aired on state television, Malaya, who is also NTF-Elcac spokesperson, said task force officials were “surprised and alarmed” at Fry’s recommendations and also accused the rapporteur of interfering in the country’s domestic policies and allowing himself to be manipulated by the “enemies of the government.”
Remulla argued that the establishment of NTF-Elcac is among the solutions to address communist insurgency in the country.
“We think this is the solution to end the proliferation of communism in our country and the sowing of fear and terror around us,” Remulla maintained.
“This is an effective internal mechanism of the government. The enemies of the government have been reduced,” he added.
Malaya supported Remulla’s statement. “The communist insurgency in our country is already ending with only one remaining active guerrilla front of the New People’s Army with 1,400 armed troops left. We are winning the war against the communist-terrorist groups,” he claimed.
“UN special rapporteur Fry is allowing himself to be used by the enemies of the government,” Malaya added.Open to suggestions
Remulla, however, acknowledged that Fry is free to air his opinion.“If they want to talk … freedom of speech, fine. But do I have to follow? Do we have to follow them?” the justice secretary said.
Malaya said National Security Adviser Secretary Eduardo Año has already extended an invitation to Fry so that they could talk about the latter’s recommendations.
“If you haven’t left [the country] yet, drop by our place, at the NTF-Elcac, so that we can talk and we can give our side before you make a recommendation that has no basis and interferes in the internal policy-making process of our country,” he said.
Malaya claimed Fry was biased as he failed to accord the government due process before coming out with his recommendations.
Pretty much all the criticism of Ian Fry falls into two camps: he is either simply misinformed or a meddling foreigner. Certainly he should have talked to officials of the NTF-ELCAC to get their side of things. But the NTF-ELCAC should also take seriously the allegations made against them. It seems NTF-ELCAC spokesman Malaya does that here by brushing off this critics as "enemies of the government."
What is interesting to note though is that we are told the NPA is now down to 1,400 armed troops. That is down 400 from the figure of 1,800 given back in July.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1799676/fwd-afp-npa-has-around-1800-members-left |
From around 2,000 members reported in 2022, the communist New People’s Army (NPA) is now down to around 1,800 fighters, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said on Monday.
That means 400 NPA fighters, not supporters or hangers on, have been killed or have surrendered in the past 4 months. But there is nothing to indicate that is the case unless the AFP has not been reporting all the numbers to the media.
NTF-ELCAC spokesman Malaya claims the government is winning the war against the communist insurgency. What come next? For Antique it's making insurgency-cleared villages as a tourism hub.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1213821 |
The provincial government of Antique will develop the two contiguous insurgency-cleared barangays of Sibalom and San Remigio towns as a tourism hub to activate the economy and provide livelihood to residents.
Vice Governor Edgar Denosta made the remark during the turnover of the PHP40 million worth of projects to Barangay Aningalan, San Remigio, and Barangay Cabladan, Sibalom, funded under the Barangay Support Development Program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Thursday.
The projects in Cabladan consisted of a farm-to-market road (FMR), an improvement of the water system, an electrification project, and the construction of a school building, all worth PHP20 million.
The PHP20 million fund of Aningalan went to the construction of FMR from Aningalan to Barangay Bulan-bulan, also in San Remigio.
He said he would file a resolution during their regular session on Monday requesting a PHP30 million fund under the Local Government Support Program (LGSP) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to complete the road network between the two barangays.
“With the completion of the farm-to-market (FMR) road in Barangay Cabladan, there is only a remaining of little more than a kilometer for the barangay to connect with Aningalan,” he said.
With the completion of the road network, tourists could visit the Cabladan, which has a cool climate and beautiful upland scenery similar to Aningalan.
Aningalan, known as the “Little Baguio” in Antique for its cool climate, has been experiencing an influx of tourists.
“Barangay Cabladan is part of the Sibalom Natural Park (SNP) that covers 6,778.44 hectares,” he said.
The SNP was declared a natural park through Republic Act 11038 in 2018 and opened to tourists on March 1, 2022.
It hosts the world’s largest flower Rafflesia, century-old trees such as the Laua-an species, Visayan Warty Pig, Visayan Tarictic Hornbill, and Visayan Spotted Deer.
Antique DILG provincial director John Ace Azarcon said he would endorse the request for PHP30 million fund, once it is available, to their regional office in Iloilo City.
“Barangays could access the LGSF if they have specific projects,” he said during the turnover ceremony.
Punong Barangays Arnulfo Marcos of Angingalan and Elias Fabillo of Cabladan said their projects are beneficial to their communities because they would ensure sustained peace and order in their areas.
Don't forget that according to the AFP insurgency cleared does not mean there are no insurgents but only an irrelevant number of insurgents.
No comments:
Post a Comment