OPAPRU, DSWD to give P100K cash aid to each ex-MILF combatant

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday vowed to provide P100,000 cash assistance to each decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants for their socioeconomic development.

The two agencies signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to roll out a P396 million-worth socioeconomic program for the  former rebels, as part of the government's commitment under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) to uplift the lives of former MILF combatants and their families.

Under the MOA, the DSWD will implement the program by providing an outright cash assistance of Php 100,000 for each of the decommissioned MILF combatants.

Of this amount, P80,000 shall be sourced from the Bangsamoro Transitory Family Support Package (BTFSP), while the remaining Php 20,000 shall be provided under the Livelihood Settlement Grant (LSG) of the DSWD’s Socioeconomic Program.

The BTFSP includes food and non-food basic assistance for the decommissioned combatants and their families, while the LSG may be used by the former rebels to start their livelihood activities.

The MOA shall also cover the transitional cash assistance for the 1,300 decommissioned MILF combatants under Phase 3, and 2,000 combatants under Phase 4; operational expenses in the conduct of case management of decommissioned combatants and Bangsamoro Islamic Auxiliary Women Brigades; and administrative costs.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian expressed his agency’s full support to the Bangsamoro peace process.

“We assure the secretary and [the] OPAPRU family that in this department, we make sure that sustainable, inclusive peace is an initiative that is not just written on paper, but it’s actually funded and manned properly by our cluster,” he said.

Acting Presidential Adviser for Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Secretary Isidro Purisima thanked the DSWD for working closely with the OPAPRU in sustaining and building on the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process. —Giselle Ombay/KBK, GMA Integrated News