BY NYARIKA DOMANAIS
ANTIQUE – From 2023 to this year, 98 former rebels in this province have returned to the fold of the law through the government’s End to Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program.
Of the number, 44 surrendered last year and 54 from January to July this year, according to the Antique Police Provincial Office (APPO).
Data from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office also showed that 43 former rebels have so far received assistance under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Each surrenderee got P50,000 as livelihood or reintegration assistance, P15,000 as immediate assistance, and remuneration of their surrendered firearms.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development also provided them P20,000 worth of assistance under the Sustainable Livelihood Program.
For his part, Lieutenant Colonel Arturo Balgos Jr., commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion, said aforementioned surrenderees proved that the ELCAC program had been successful in dismantling the Southern Front Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) that operates in San Remigio, Sibalom and Hamtic towns and in the adjacent municipalities of Iloilo province.
He then appealed to the remaining members of the communist terrorist group to surrender and return to their normal lives./PN
