Freddie (not his real name), a 72-year-old former rebel in a small town in the province of Bohol, expressed his gratitude to the government for giving him the chance to start anew and to live peacefully with his family. Freddie has become an advocate for the program of government to promote peace and has been encouraging others to return to the government.

He had spent 16 years believing and living by the ideology taught in the Communist Party of the Philippines-National People’s Army (CPP-NPA). However, the constant hunger, danger, and torture made him reconsider his decision to remain in the group and led him to leave and surrender.

“As I age, my body can no longer take the physical and mental torture, so I decided to leave,” shared Freddie. The eight (8) broken ribs and the loss of his tooth were the remembrances of his service; they served as his eye-opener, and he realized that a good government would not do this to its members who selflessly render their service.

In 2018, Freddie surrendered, a very timely decision because, on December 4 of the same year, President Rodrigo Duterte formed a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and signed Executive Order 70 to institutionalize the government’s “whole-of-a-nation” approach to tackling the ongoing communist rebellion.

Former rebels like Freddie have been allowed to be reintegrated into the community and received assistance from the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) member national government agencies. This program aims to help the members of the CPP-NPA-NDF and other militant groups who want to return to the government and avail themselves of the government interventions they can use to change their lives.

As part of the E-CLIP, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provides social services through the special project of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), which provides livelihood support to former rebels like Freddie. He received a seed capital fund worth PHP 20,000 on November 13, 2020, and used it to start his tilapia farming business. His long-time dream has now turned into a reality.

After a year of running his Tilapia farm, Freddie expanded his business by venturing into “bahalina” production. Using his knowledge in making coconut wine or locally known as “bahalina”, he successfully produced top-quality coconut wine. As a result, he is now producing and supplying “bahalina” in his community and neighboring towns.

Blessing outpours in Freddie’s life in 2023 when he successfully negotiated an exchange deal with a prominent construction firm, who would help clear the area by gathering stones and other materials that the firm could use, free of charge.

As a result, Freddie cultivated and developed his land into an agro-tourism and planted it with fruit-bearing trees. Freddie shared his blessing by hiring his fellow surrenderers as farm helpers.

The 65-member E-CLIP association elected Freddie as its president. The hired helpers in his agro-tourism business are also members of the association. With this livelihood, his family has enough food on their table. Also, it has secured the bright future of his family and five (5) children so that no one will take a detour just like he did.

Freddie has learned from his past that he will never forget. He committed to helping people like him find the right path. His decision in 2018 paved the way for him to avail himself of many opportunities and transformed not only his mindset but also the lives of his family. He will always cherish and be grateful to DSWD-SLP and other government agencies that have helped him.

“Thank you, SLP, for making my dream a reality,” said Freddie in a simple yet profound statement to SLP for helping him fulfill his dreams.

Freddie has been one of the SLP’s EO 70 beneficiaries in the region who succeeded in their chosen livelihood and successfully managed their chosen livelihood. From 2020 to 2023, the DSWD 7-SLP served a total of 1,086 individuals or 110 formed Sustainable Livelihood Program Associations (SLPA) in Conflict-Vulnerable Areas (CVA) and has disbursed a total of Php 12,090,000.00 seed capital fund, and Php 2,740,000.00 to 137 former rebels who are now known as insurgent returnees. ###

 

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