March 29, 2024

SALLAPADAN, Abra – Twenty-three Militia ng Bayan have voluntarily returned to mainstream society through the collective efforts of the municipal government, the local police, and punong barangays.
To start their reintegration process, the municipal government organized a meeting attended by Police Regional Office-Cordillera Director B/Gen. Israel Ephraim Dickson, Abra Police Provincial Office Director Col. Alfredo K. Dangani, Sallapadan Mayor Garde Cardenas, Vice Mayor Nenita Cardenas, sangguniang bayan members, and barangay officials.
Cardenas lauded the returnees for heeding the call for them to return to the folds of the society and to live normally with their families.
Dickson said the returnees will be evaluated and categorized whether they are regular members or contact persons to identify the appropriate assistance or incentives that may be given to them.
The returnees can be successfully integrated through the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) and avail of various government programs and free training after their evaluation by the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines.
He also assured the safety of the returnees during the reintegration process.
Dickson recognized the role of the LGUs in fighting insurgency by mobilizing barangay officials, especially in the farthest communities to engage with the people, to communicate the programs of the government, and to persuade rebels to return to the mainstream in line with Executive Order 70 or the Duterte Administration’s whole of nation approach to end local communist armed conflicts in the country. – Christian Tubadeza