19 ex-NPA rebels start processing E-CLIP benefits

DAVAO CITY – A total of 19 members of the New People’s Army (NPA), who yielded to the Army's 89th Infantry Battalion and who have been enrolled in the Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), are on their way to avail of their benefits.

The rebel returnees will also undergo psychosocial intervention through counseling and stress debriefings, as well as join a moral recovery program through the assistance of the religious sector and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the battalion’s civil-military operation officer, 1st Lt. Mibert Bonzato, said on Thursday.

Bonzato noted that being enrolled in E-CLIP also enables the former rebels to access medical assistance, shelter, legal assistance, and security protection. They were also enrolled in PhilHealth.

He said the rebel returnees will likewise undergo training to develop their skills in livestock production, backyard poultry, swine dispersal, fishery, as well as short courses in cosmetology.

Each of the 19 rebels has received PHP65,000 in livelihood assistance from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Bonzato said the DILG has also allocated PHP5 million for the establishment of a halfway house that would provide the surrenderers an environment for total healing, in preparation for their reintegration into mainstream society. (PNA)