LAUDABLE MOVE. Agusan del Norte 2nd District Rep. Dale Corvera lauds the move of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to enhance the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program and the amnesty program for former New People’s Army rebels during his 2nd SONA on Monday (July 24, 2023). Corvera said the President’s actions can finally end the insurgency problem in the country. (Photo grabbed from House of Representatives Website)
BUTUAN CITY – The move to strengthen the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) and the amnesty program will help the government win over the insurgency, a lawmaker here said Tuesday.
“My interest, aside from the present administration’s economic plans underpinning the macro-economic framework of the country with the Maharlika Investment Plan were the issues on the drug problem and insurgency,” Agusan del Norte 2nd District Rep. Dale Corvera said in reaction to the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday.
In a phone interview, Corvera lauded the President for laying out a clear direction for the present administration to end the problem of insurgency.
“The President’s SONA was inspiring and was done sincerely,” Corvera said.
He said the government’s ECLIP program has gained positive results, especially in providing the necessary support for the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels who wanted to return to their communities.
Marcos described the ECLIP as effective “in addressing the root cause of conflict in the countryside.”
The President said he will also issue a proclamation granting amnesty for NPA rebels who wish to return to the fold of the law.
“Hundreds of former rebels in the Caraga Region have already benefited from the E-CLIP and are now settling peacefully with their families,” Corvera noted.
In its 2022 annual report, the Department of the Interior and Local Government in the Caraga Region noted that 465 former NPA guerrillas received over PHP39 million worth of assistance through the E-CLIP.
It added that the support was in the form of livelihood funding, reintegration assistance, immediate assistance, and firearms remuneration.
Of the 465 FRs given E-CLIP assistance last year, 118 were from Agusan del Norte; 169, Agusan del Sur; 145, Surigao del Sur; 25, Surigao del Norte; and eight, from Butuan City.
Corvera said the two programs will show the sincerity of the government in asking the rebels to lay down their arms and surrender, especially those who have standing arrest warrants. (PNA)
