The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process yesterday proposed a P279.16 million budget for livelihood and development programs for conflict-affected communities identified by the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas, Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (Tabara-Paduano Group).

The closure of the peace agreement between the rebel group and the government is targeted to be signed by President Benigno Aquino III before his State of the Nation Address on July 23.

As a requirement for the signing of the peace agreement, the Provincial Peace and Order Council of Negros Occidental, chaired by Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., yesterday passed a resolution supporting the closure of the peace agreement, which is geared towards the RPM-P-RPA-ABB’s disposition of firearms and forces, in a meeting at the Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City.

The RPM-P-RPA-ABB Tabara-Paduano Group has 716 members, OPAPP records show. Of the profiled members, 607 are in Negros Occidental and 58 in Negros Oriental, with the remaining members scattered in Panay and some areas of Mindanao and Luzon.

As soon as they get the endorsement of the peace and order councils in Panay and other areas of the country, OPAPP Undersecretary Luisito Montalbo said they will forward the copy of the draft closure peace agreement to Malacañang, for approval and signing of Aquino.

The RPM-P-RPA-ABB, which was founded by former CPP Visayas Commission secretary Arturo Tabara, entered into peace talks with the government in 2000. Four years after, Tabara was assassinated in Quezon City.

The peace agreement is geared towards the transformation of the RPA-ABB into a civilian, political, economic organization; and to mainstreaming its members into their communities, providing them with livelihood and employment, and moving them towards disarmament and the dismantling of their military structure.

Of the amount earmarked for the peace pact, P148.10 million will go to Negros Occidental, Montalbo said.

Provincial Planning and Development Officer Ma. Lina Pellejo-Sanogal yesterday said that the provincial government of Negros Occidental also earmarked a P2 million counterpart to help the RPA-ABB members in their new lives.

The city government of San Carlos also provided an P8 million counterpart for a settlement area for the RPA-ABB, Montalbo said.

In his briefing on the status of the RPM-P-RPA-ABB draft closure agreement at the PPOC meeting, Montalbo also reported that the government allocated P25 million worth of infrastructure projects for 347 resettlement sites, with each RPA-ABB member provided with core shelter and inputs for livelihood.

As stipulated in the proposed interim security arrangement on resettlement areas, a security force composed of TPG members will be organized and placed under the supervision of the military and police, in response to threat on their lives from the CPP-NPA, Montalbo added.

After the disposition of firearms, anyone among its members caught carrying firearms, except those covered by licenses, will be arrested, Montalbo said.

He also said the development programs for RPM-P-RPA-ABB identified communities will be implemented through the PAMANA (Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan) program, a national government framework and program for peace and development in conflict-affected areas, as well as communities covered by existing peace agreements, and not through the rebel group.

In response to the challenge of OPAPP, the provincial government and the 303rd Infantry Brigade also proposed the Provincial Framework for Peace and Development, which will focus its effort on helping residents of communities highly affected by the armed conflict in Negros Occidental.

OPAPP is also negotiating with the other group of RPM-P-RPA-ABB, that is headed by Nilo de la Cruz.*GPB

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