The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Ibajay local government unit (LGU) have initiated the construction of a Php1.7 million-worth Child Development Center (CDC) in Barangay Cabugao, Ibajay in Aklan province that will benefit the children of former rebels now residing in the resettlement site.

DSWD Undersecretary for Inclusive-Sustainable Peace and Special Concerns Alan Tanjusay, along with Assistant Secretary Arnel Garcia and Mayor Juan Miguel Miraflores, led the onsite groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday (February 22) to mark the construction of the CDC.

“This center symbolizes our common struggle to nurture peace and pass this on to the next generation of children of former rebels and the children in nearby communities. This also symbolizes the government’s successful inter-agency tangible commitment to our brothers and sisters who desire to contribute to nation-building,” Usec. Tanjusay said in his message during the groundbreaking.

The CDC is being funded by the DSWD through its Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) Program, and in partnership with LGU of Ibajay.

Undersecretary Tanjusay said the construction of the center was requested by former rebels and the surrounding communities to complement the existing joint deradicalization and reintegration efforts of the DSWD, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), Ibajay municipal government, and other government agencies, for rebel groups who want to return to the fold of the law and embrace the path of peace.

Ibajay was once the stronghold of communist insurgency in Western Visayas and was the center of the communist armed struggle in the region.

The Western Visayas regional leadership separated from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples’ Army (CPP-NPA). The regional party committee later entered into a localized peace agreement with the provincial government and constituted themselves as KAPATIRAN.

“The KAPATIRAN members now own and manage a settlement site with individual housing units, a coconut oil mill, a thriving restaurant, a gasoline vendo machine and other micro-business enterprises,” Usec Tanjusay said.

Usec Tanjusay said this was made possible through a whole-of-government approach by the DSWD, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPW), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), National Housing Authority (NHA), the Army Engineering Brigade, and the local and provincial governments. #