Article by:
Priam Nepomuceno
MANILA – The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) and the Basilan provincial government, together with other stakeholders, have so far provided livelihood assistance to 300 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members as of last February.
"Since February 26 this year, the Provincial Local Government Unit of Basilan and the OPAPRU, through its Localizing Normalization Implementation (LNI) and in coordination with Task Force on Decommissioned Combatants and their Communities, have already provided livelihood assistance to 300 MILF members, of which 288 are decommissioned combatants," the peace body said in a statement Wednesday.
Aside from providing a major boost to small livelihood ventures, OPAPRU said assistance will also uplift the socioeconomic conditions of the decommissioned combatants and their families, as committed under the Normalization Program.
It also said the Basilan provincial government has so far distributed approximately PHP4.5 million during the “USAP TAYO GOB: Decommissioned Combatants” initiative.
Under the OPAPRU-supported LNI Program, each beneficiary received PHP15,000 in cash.
Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman, meanwhile, expressed full support for the peace body's development programs.
“Magiging mapayapa ang komunidad kung mapayapa kayong namumuhay. Mapayapa kayong namumuhay kung maayos ang inyong kabuhayan. At magiging maayos ang kabuhayan ng lahat kung maayos ang mga programa ng ating pamahalaan at kung walang kaguluhan sa ating lugar (communities will be at peace if residents are living peacefully. You will be living peacefully if you have good sources of livelihood. And everything will be in order if all government programs are functioning properly and there is no trouble in our communities)," he added.
Hataman also said the "USAP TAYO, GOB" initiative serves as a platform where residents can directly express their concerns that need immediate action. (PNA)
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