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Basilan guv seeks sustained programs for rebel returnees

By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.

September 10, 2019, 4:45 pm

SUSTAINED PROGRAMS. Basilan Gov. Hadjiman Hataman-Salliman (3rd from left) on Monday (Sept. 9) presides over a meeting on Preventing Violent Extremism in Isabela City, the capital of Basilan. (Photo courtesy of the Army's 101st Infantry Brigade)

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Basilan Gov. Hadjiman Hataman-Salliman underscored Tuesday the importance of sustained productivity programs for the rebel returnees in her province.

Salliman said the rebel returnees “should be kept busy in any livelihood activity so as to prevent them from going back to the armed struggle.”

“(The) returnees should be introduced in the productive areas in order to persuade them to engage in farming,” Salliman added.

Salliman led a meeting Monday on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province, which was attended by Ariel Hernandez, special assistant of the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Peace, Reconciliation and Unity; Brig. Gen. Fernando Reyeg, Joint Task Force Basilan commander; and, representatives from the different non-government organizations, civil society organizations, and religious organizations.

She said the meeting was to "contextualize" and "complement PVE initiatives, develop other action points, create and strengthen working mechanism, and clarify the roles of each stakeholder to sustain the Program Against Violent Extremism (PAVE) for Peace and further improve the peace and order situation in Basilan.

The PAVE for Peace was launched by then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor and now Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman on April 17, 2018.

Hataman said the PAVE for Peace is a holistic approach program that seeks to end violent extremism and bring about peace in the region.

The program was conceptualized following the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte “to talk all” especially to those misguided individuals who wanted to return to the folds of the law.

Meanwhile, Reyeg said one of the government’s programs that greatly contributed to the prevention of violent extremism is the introduction of the Community Support Program (CSP) in the province.

“Military troops conducted CSP activities in identified influenced-areas that subsequently gained public trust and support,” Reyeg said. (PNA)

 

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