Davao City set to open halfway home for ex-NPA rebels

The surrendered communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels will now have a temporary home while they are engaging in transitional activities for six months before going back to their community and families.

Set for an opening sometime next month, the halfway home called the “Kalinaw Village” is a P10-million residential facility built by the Davao City government and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). The city government and the DILG shared P5 million each for the administration building, the male and female dormitory, and the conjugal home. The project was conceptualized in 2018 and the construction started in April 2019.

Ma. Luisa Bermudo, the head of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), said, “Right now, the admin building is already finished, while the construction of the dormitories is already around 40 percent.”

Before the former rebels are admitted to the Kalinaw Village, they will undergo a 14-day de-radicalization process under the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

At the Kalinaw Village, the former rebels will engage in transitioning activities such as livelihood and productive skills training and psychological and psychosocial intervention for six months. They are also beneficiaries of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), a complete package of assistance for former rebels that includes enrolment to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Bermudo said that the intervention program is important before the former rebels are integrated into the community and their families.

“They have been there for how many years – sa kalihokan. They have been away from society for so long. So, ang halfway home ang intervention program bago nato sila ibalik sa ilang pamilya ug komunidad (They have been with the [NPA] movement for many years. They have been away from society for so long. So, the half-way home is an intervention program before we bring them back to their family and community),” she said.

In establishing the Kalinaw Village, the city government also collaborated with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and other agencies for the intervention programs. It follows the mandate of the Executive Order No. 70 series of 2018 of the DILG to use the Whole-of-Nation approach to address the root causes of communist insurgency. CIO