LAWMAKERS Wednesday backed the plan of the Duterte administration to provide decent jobs and livelihood assistance to members of New People’s Army who may rejoin mainstream society once a peace agreement is forged between the rebel returnees and the government.
Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez welcomed efforts undertaken by government peace panel chairman and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to talk to the National Democratic Front-Communist Party of the Philippines for initially considering members of NPA to work for the government.
“We welcome the sincerity of President Duterte to talk peace and the statement of Secretary Bello to immediately provide jobs and livelihood assistance to our brothers and sisters in the communist movement,” said Romualdez, wife of former Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, both president of the Philippine Constitution Association and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats.
She said the rebel returnees deserve to be given the necessary assistance from the government to have them reintegrated to mainstream society and enable them to start a new life.
House Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu, Isabela Rep. Rodito Albano III and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers shared Rep. Romuladez’s views
“There is no substitute for peace. If only the two sides could agree on common points and decide to face each other in the negotiating table instead of the battle fields, then we can surely expect a better and more progressive future for our country,” said Abu.
Albano said he strongly supported the move of the Duterte government to provide the much needed assistance to rebel returnees.
“That is s the only way to peace…bring back our brothers and break bread,” Albano stressed.
Barbers shared a similar view: “They have to come back to the fold of the law and desist (from) arms struggle, and just fight and advance their causes through democratic and humane ways.”
Earlier, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said former NPAs should be deputized as tax collectors and Customs police instead of hiring them as forest rangers.
Alvarez stressed the need for the government to extend the necessary assistance to the ex-rebels to help them back to normal living by giving them decent jobs.