75 friends rescued in DdO take steps to rebuild lives with gov’t ECLIP program

“Sauna ang atong kalibotan didtoa ra gayud sa lasang, apan karon atong gipasalamatan nga nakakita tag kahayag kauban ang atong pamilya ug mga mahal sa kinabuhi, buot pasabot mao kini ang dakong kadaogan nga atong natagamtaman karon”.

This is the message of Alias Edith to her fellow friends rescued during the release of Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) financial assistance of the Department of Interior Local Government (DILG) on April 4, 2023, at the Activity Hall 2nd Floor Capitol Building.

She is one of the 75 former members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in Davao de Oro who have returned to the fold of the law and realized how the government’s program helps them to rebuild their lives.

Out of the 75 given, 57 were former regular New People’s Army (NPA), where each received PHP65K immediate and livelihood assistance, while 18 of them, members of Militia ng Bayan, received PHP15K worth of immediate assistance.

ECLIP aims to help the rebel members of communist groups restore their allegiance to the government, reintegrate into mainstream society, “be with their families, and start over with their new, normal lives.”

Some of the selected livelihood projects that will be used for this assistance are the sari-sari store, livestock production, poultry, and hog raising, agriculture farm, and others.

Governor Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga also expressed her appreciation for the worthy changes in their lives [FRs] and for ensuring that the provincial government is constant in its goal of sustaining an insurgency-free province.

DILG Provincial Director Noel C. Duarte, PSWDO Head Josephine M. Frasco, DSWD personnel, and the security sectors were also present during the ceremony. (Rheafe Hortizano)