Ex-Davao NPA supporters get ‘seed capital’
PHILIPPINE National Police chief General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar has turned over the seed capital given by the government to former New People’s Army (NPA) sympathizers and supporters in Southern Mindanao who have returned to the mainstream of the society and have now organized themselves into livelihood cooperatives, officials said on Tuesday.
Joined by Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 director Brigadier Gen. Filmore B. Escobal, the PNP chief gave the seed capital to the People’s Organization organized by the PRO11 Revitalized-Pulis sa Barangay or R-PSB formed to help people living in so-called geographically isolated and disadvantageous areas in Southern Mindanao usually being taken advantage of by the NPA movement.
On Saturday, Eleazar motored to the Davao del Oro Police Provincial Office (PPO) where he met with the former NPA members from Davao de Oro, Davao Oriental and Agusan del Norte provinces who are now getting full support from the government.
Escobal said the Davao de Oro PPO so far had already organized 91 People’s Organizations (POs) with their members now reaching more than 4,000. Seventy of the POs have already obtained their Certificate of Registration from the Department of Labor and Employment while the papers of the rest are still being processed.
Escobal said the seed capital received by the POs will ensure the continuity of their livelihood programs.
Those who received the funding include the New Dalaguete Motor Driver’s Association represented by Samson Otbot; Kabatan-onan Nagkahiusa Para sa Kalambuan sa New Dalaguete headed by Jowelyn Pagas; Mandaya Womens’ Association of Barangay Panansalan led by Mely Badong; Kaimunan Kababayen-ang Sag Lumad sa Puting Bato Association headed by Rachel Tayeng; Bagani Workers Association led by Nelson Tabag; Kaimonan Mag-uuma Sang Lumad sa Puting Baton represented by Lindo Adlawan; Puting Bato Youth Livelihood Association led by Omar Adlawan; Mangayon Tilapia Growers’ Association headed by Fe Dacles; and San Vicente Nursery Farmer’s Association represented by Marlito Mabalio.
The POs have committed to help the PRO11 maintain peace and order in their communities and discard the presence of NPA as part of their support to the government’s continuing effort to finally put an end to the more than five-decades old communist insurgency.
