60 KAPATIRAN Members Receive 3 Million Livelihood Grants

Some 60 members of the Kapatiran para sa Progresibong Panlipunan, Inc (KAPATIRAN) received a total of Php 3 million livelihood grants from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).

“Dili nato makab-ot ang kalinaw pinaagi sa panagpatay. Dili nato makab-ot ang kalinaw pinaagi sa gyera. Makab-ot lamang nato ang kalinaw pinaagi sa pagtagad sa atoang mga katawhan aron atong ma win or matarog ang kasingkasing sa atong mga pinalanggang katawhan (We cannot achieve peace through killings. We cannot achieve peace through wars. We can only achieve peace by paying attention to our people so that we can win or captivate the hearts of our beloved people),” said the Provincial Governor of Negros Oriental Roel R. Degamo during the awarding of Livelihood Settlement Grants (LSG) to the Kapatiran members at the Municipal Gymnasium of Tanjay, Negros Oriental on December 9, 2019.

On 19 July 2019, the Philippine Government has executed the final step to the 2000 Peace Agreement with the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade-Tabara Paduano Group (RPM-P/RPA/ABB/TPG), now registered as Kapatiran para sa Progresibong Panlipunan, Inc (KAPATIRAN) through signing of the Clarificatory Implementing Document (CID).

The CID lays down all the commitments of the Government to the Kapatiran, which is part of their effort to achieve inclusive and sustainable peace in the country. Among its commitments specified in the CID is the Social and Economic Reintegration of the Kapatiran members through provision of Livelihood Settlement Grants.

LSG is a financial assistance directly provided to each profiled member of Kapatiran to support the establishment or continuity of their livelihoods or economic activities in their communities. One of the areas covered by the grants is the Negros Oriental wherein 60 Kapatiran members received Php 50,000.00 each.

Kapatiran chairperson Veronica Tabara expressed her gratitude to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP) under the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for pushing vital steps to accelerate the realization of their dreamed steps to achieve peace.

She also thanked DSWD for the financial and technical assistance provided in their proposed livelihood projects. According to her, “only a few of us know how to manage small amount of money and make it grow because back then, the Kapatiran was molded not for livelihood activities, but for armed conflict.”

DSWD Promotive Services Division Chief Ms. Aileen Cuevas, hopes that the cash assistance provided to start the livelihood projects of the beneficiaries will increase in the coming years.

“We are hoping that this fifty thousand pesos will grow in your livelihood projects because this is not the kind of money or grant the government has provided for personal use. So let’s take good care of it because the government gave this for our livelihood. So even if you are staying in your barangay, no matter where you are in the community, you can still make a living,” expressed Cuevas in dialect.

In response, Veronica said that through agreements and discipline, they will strive to gradually improve the livelihood projects to show to their brothers who are still in the opposing side that peace could not be obtained through armed conflict.

Meanwhile, the city government of Tanjay, represented by Atty. Anthony Ferolino commits to follow and support whatever the OPAPP plans out to achieve the long-desired peace in the province.

The activity was also attended by OPAPP representative Milo S. Ibrado Jr., and the 302nd Infantry Brigade AFP Commanding Officer Col. Noel Baluyan.