READ | The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) signed memoranda of agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and National Irrigation Authority (NIA) today that will provide livelihood programs, as well as build irrigation and other infrastructure facilities for former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants.
The agencies were represented by Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez Jr, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, and NIA Administrator Ricardo Ramoran Visaya.
Under the MOA between OPAPP and DTI, the agencies will jointly carry out the a Php 70-million Peaceful Return and Aggressive Inclusion Social Entrepreneurship (PRAISE) Program which includes a livelihood and entrepreneurial projects, a product-area feasibility study, and a special project for a host local government unit (LGU).
Meanwhile, under the MOA between OPAPP and NIA, the agencies will undertake PhP 77M-worth of irrigation rehabilitation projects, as well as build infrastructure facilities that aim to boost agricultural productivity and economic development in the region.
All of these initiatives aim to help transform six government acknowledged MILF camps located in Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Lanao del Sur into peaceful, progressive and resilient communities.
Also present during the event were OPAPP Assistant Secretaries Andres Aguinaldo and Wilben M. Mayor, Joint Normalization Committee co-chairs Ariel Hernandez and Ed Guera, Trade Undersecretary Abdulgani M. Macatoman and Assistant Secretary Dominic R. Tolentino, and NIA Senior Deputy Administrator General Abraham B. Bagasin and Deputy Administrator General Romeo G. Gan.
Source: Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
