8/11/2019 Former combatants turn over a new leaf as forest protectors

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Former combatants turn over a new leaf

as forest protectors

ANABO, ABRAIn Abra, members o the ormer Cordillera PeoplesLiberation Army (CPLA) are at t he oreront o deending and stewarding thenatural resources within their lands through their new role as Bantay Gubat.

We man checkpoints, patrol the mountainside, and assist tree-planting activities underthe National Greening Program, said Renato, a Bantay Gubat employee and member othe ormer CPLA, in the vernacular. Its good work.

As Bantay Gubat patrol members, they affirm and carry orward their ilis (communitys)commitment to deend and protect Abras rich yet vulnerable orest resources, standingguard against all manner o illegal and unsustainable extraction practices, includinglogging, poaching, and the like.

Some orty years ago, under Martial Law, villagers in Abra and other Cordillera townsbravely ought to stop the Cellophil Resources Corporation rom logging nearly 300,000hectares o their orested areas and domains.

Teir employment as orest guards is in ulfillment o the commitment o the nationalgovernment to the agreement it signed with the Cordillera Bodong Administration-Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CBA-CPLA) in July 2011. Te agreement aimed tobring closure to the existence o CPLA as an armed group and to pave the way or their

transormation into an unarmed, potent socioeconomic orce.

Back then, when we were armers and members o the CPLA, Renato recalled, we reallystruggled.

Now, as part o the Bantay Gubat patrol, we have a sense that we are contributingand to agovernment program at that.

Narciso, a ellow ormer combatant-turned-Bantay Gubat patroller, agrees.

We really believe that t he program has improved our lives, Narciso said. We have ound areliable source o income or our amilys needsrom ood, to our childrens school supplies,their clothes, and more.

Bantay Gubat is a joint project o the Office o the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process(OPAPP) and the Department o Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), carried outthrough the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program. It is implemented byAbras Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office. Bantay Gubat has employed atotal o 91 members o the ormer CPLA who are now productive contributors to their localcommunities.

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ABOUT PAMANA

Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan or PAMANAis the national governments convergenceprogram that extends development interventionsto isolated, hard-to-reach and conflict-affectedcommunities, ensuring that they are not lefbehind. A complementary track to peacenegotiations, the program is anchored on theAquino administrations strategy o winningthe peace by orging strategic partnerships with

national agencies in promoting convergentdelivery o goods and services, and addressingregional development challenges in conflictaffected and vulnerable areas. Te design anddelivery o PAMANA is conflict-sensitive andpeace-promoting in order to avoid the recurrenceo conflict. A total o PHP 17.129 billion hasbeen allocated or socio-economic developmentprograms and social protection services orconflict-affected and vulnerable communitiesrom 2011 to 2014. As o 2014, PAMANA hascovered 47 provinces and 5 chartered cities.

OPAPP a nd PAMANA

Te Office o the

Presidential Adviseron the Peace Process(OPAPP) oversees theimplementation oPAMANA and providesguidance to planning,overall monitoring, andevaluation and capacitybuilding o implementingpartners.

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Mahirap noon kasinagtatrabaho ka langnang walang sahod.Ngayon, mayroon nangpara sa amin.

kasi mayroonna kaming pinagkukunanng pantustos sa pamilya.

-Ka Narciso, a member o the ormerCordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) who

now works as a orest guard under DENR

Mas magandaang buhay naminngayon

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Agencies with PAMANA line items in their budget