DUMAGUETE CITY – A total of 22 former Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) rebels in Negros Oriental are now awaiting enrollment in the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
These FRs comprised the batch covering the 2nd quarter of this year for E-CLIP enrollment, Capt. Marco Antonio Cardinoza, Civil Military Operations Officer of the 302nd Infantry Brigade said in an interview on Monday.
E-CLIP is the government’s program for rebels who have surrendered, to help reintegrate them to the community.
Cardinoza said the FRs have previously surrendered to different Army units under the brigade and are now being processed for inclusion in the E-CLIP.
Meanwhile, records at the brigade show that a total of 491 FRs in Region 7 under its coverage have surrendered and availed of the E-CLIP’s immediate assistance of PHP15,000 and the livelihood assistance of PHP50,000 from 2016 to 2022.
Those who received immediate assistance totaled 345 FRs while 146 others received livelihood assistance.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)