DILG: 1,100 ex-rebels received gov’t assistance under Marcos so far

Around 1,100 former rebels have received assistance from the government since the start of the Marcos administration in July, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Thursday.

DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos said the government is committed to addressing insurgency and helping former rebels improve their lives.

“Through the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration or E-CLIP, we have helped more than 1,100 FRs get back into the folds of society since July 1,” Abalos said in a statement read by DILG Public Affairs and Communication Service director Marlo Guanzon at a press conference.

E-CLIP aims to help rebels to reintegrate to the community by providing them financial and livelihood assistance, among others.

In November, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Lieutenant General Bartolome Bacarro said the communist group New People’s Army (NPA) is left with only 2,112 members.

The firearms of the rebels have also been reduced to around 1,800.

Bacarro said the military is now focusing on active guerrilla fronts in around 154 barangays in the country.

From a total of 89 guerilla fronts in 2018, Bacarro said the AFP is now only going after 24 remaining groups. Of the remaining groups, 19 are already weakening and close to being dismantled. —Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA Integrated News

DILG: 1,100 ex-rebels received gov’t assistance under Marcos so far
Source: Filipino Viral News PH