(First of two parts)

"(AKONG kinabuhi sa una) diha gud ko sa kalisod og kakapoy og kagubot…(matag gabii sa lasang akong gihuna-hunaon og) wa ko kasiguro sa atong kinabuhi kon kutob lang (ko) karon o (buhi pa ko ugma) kay naa ko (sa delikado) nga dapit."

That was how ‘Ka Elias’ described in Visayan his life as a former member of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) operating in one of the areas of Mindanao. His real identity withheld for security, ‘Ka Elias’ is one of 51 former rebels who found a home in Cagayan de Oro City courtesy of the national government in coordination with Cagayan de Oro City Hall’s City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO).

E-CLIP UPDATES. Norhidaya Hadji Sarip, who heads the CSWDO secretariat in charge of the government’s E-CLIP (Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program) initiative, gives updates to officials who attended the recent City Peace, Development and Security Council (CPDSC) meeting. CIO photo by SC

'Ka Elias’s' videotaped message was one of several featured in the CSWDO’s presentation during the recent City Peace, Development and Security Council (CPDSC). The presentation centered on the CSWDO’s implementation of the E-CLIP (Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program) for former communist rebels who surrendered and accepted the government’s amnesty offer.

Norhidaya Hadji Sarip, who heads the CSWDO secretariat in charge of the E-CLIP initiative, said their office adopted a ‘total family’ approach in reintegrating the former rebels back into mainstream society. ‘We extended our services to the immediate family—their wives, husbands, partners, and their children. (City Hall’s) program includes local interventions (innovated) for the former rebels,’ she said.

From financial and educational assistance to facilitating their efforts into organizing them into homeowners associations, City Hall is working hard to steadily reintegrate the former rebels as full-pledged residents of Cagayan de Oro. ‘(In partnership with our stakeholders) we’re now into the socio-economic building phase with the 51 former rebels who have their own homes (and leading normal lives),’ Sarip said.

‘Ka Elias’ was one such E-CLIP beneficiary, as his life now in Cagayan de Oro City echoed his past living in another place in Mindanao.

"Kanang bukid namo pinaka-peaceful man na gikan pa sa among ginikanan hangtod sa among mga anak (Our hill was most peaceful since our relatives lived there up to the time of our children)," said ‘Ka Elias.’

Then the communist NPA rebels came and life was never the same since he said [To Be Concluded]. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)