Rebel Returnees to Benefit GMA’s SIP

General Santos City - Another set of surrenderees will be benefited of Presidents Arroyo’s Social Integration Program (SIP) as twenty seven members of the New People’s Army operating in South Cotabato and its neighboring provinces settled to return to the folds of the government recently.
The surrenderees were field cadres of front committees 72 and 76 and the Southern Alip Regional Guerrilla Unit of the NPA’s Far South Mindanao Region, which had been tagged in the series of attacks on government installations and a mining firm based in Tampakan, South Cotabato during the last two years. The NPA’s Front 76, which is reportedly based in the boundaries of Tampakan, South Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat, had been blamed for several atrocities, among them the recent attacks on the Tampakan municipal hall complex and facilities of mining firm Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI). The surrenderees cited their difficult situation in the mountains and disappointment over the communist ideology as among the main reasons that drove them to lay down their firearms and renew their allegiance to the government.
The surrenderees will be set to undergo livelihood skills trainings and psychosocial counseling sessions as part of their reintegration process. The OPAPP initially acknowledged the authenticity of the surrenderees based on a certification issued by the joint intelligence committees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
Last month, 34 rebel returnees were granted a new home as the MJ Village Housing and Resettlement Site at Barangay Kabatiol in Maasim, Sarangani Province opens and served as a social integration program for former CPP/NPA rebels. The project’s area covers 5.2 hectares of land that would provide home to rebel returnees. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Social Welfare and Development were also present to aid support in providing livelihood programs. The rebel returnees or so-called Kauban sa Reporma (KRs) also received cash amounting to P20,000 as starting capital for projects through direct organization of cooperatives.
OPAPP assures these former rebels the continuous livelihood assistance from the government to help them as they start to live normally in the mainstream society. Meanwhile, the military noted that there was a rapid growth in the communist surrenderees for the first half of the year with 111 returnees, which more than tripled last year’s total record of 32 for the same period. Such increase was attributed to the government’s effort on intensified operations in known rebel-infested areas, demoralization within the rebel movement and of course, the overwhelming benefits offered by the government through SIP. The full implementation of the said program is a big help in convincing other rebels to come down and surrender. The program also provides increased renumeration for surrendered firearms, explosives and ammunitions.