The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) wants to put up regional offices to handle reintegration of former rebels and non-state armed groups.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian told members of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations that the Department of Budget and Management has given a P500-million fund allocation to set up regional offices and to oversee the reintegration of non-state armed groups and former rebels.
“So the good news is, we have talked to DBM amid this budget season. We have been given an allocation of P500 million to jumpstart our regional program management office for the Inclusive Sustainable Peace and Special Concerns (ISPSC) cluster under Undersecretary Alan Tanjusay,” he said.
He vowed to continue improving their programs and services for peace and development, particularly on case management of former rebels and decommissioned combatants.
“First of all, our payout to the rebel returnees is continuous. Based on the targets identified by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity they give to us, we disburse. But in a hearing in the Senate, we pointed out that there is a gap in the mechanism, no one is managing cases,” he said.
To complement financial grants and other assistance to rebel-returnees, the DSWD chief said the agency has developed an aftercare case management mechanism to ensure and monitor sustained deradicalization and reintegration of the sector into their communities and families.
“What is the mandate of these regional offices that we will create? Let’s have pilot areas in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao so that we can make sure that those who have been decommissioned, those who have been paid are being monitored,” he said.
“It’s a pilot but once we see the progress in it as it pans out, because we know that the case management for former combatants is quite different, we will now use the experience there and expand it all throughout the country,” he added.
