Hundreds of long and short firearms surrendered by communist rebels known as Kapatiran at the Philippine Army's 3rd Infantry Division headquarters in Jamindan, Capiz. (PNA)

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo M. Año on Monday encouraged communist rebels still hiding in the mountains to go down and live a normal life.

“Put down your weapons and free yourselves from the shackles of Communist ideology that has not yielded our country anything but death and destruction,” Año said following Friday’s ceremony for the decommissioning of 727 rebels at the 3rd Infantry Division Headquarters of the Philippine Army in Jamindan, Capiz.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte led the decommissioning of members of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas-Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade-Tabara Paduano Group (RPMP-RPA-ABB-TPG) known as the “Kapatiran”

According to Año, the surrender and demobilization of the former rebels is a testament to the effectivity of local peace engagements spearheaded by local government officials and local leaders.

“The DILG is pleased with the decommissioning of the RPMP-RPA-ABB-TPG. It is long overdue and it demonstrates that the government’s current approach of localized peace engagement is better than peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippine-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front) panel which has brought us nowhere since the Cory Aquino administration,” Año said.

“With this effort and the whole-of-nation-approach espoused by President Duterte, there is no doubt in my mind that we can finally rid ourselves of the Communist insurgency that has been a burden to our economy and has cost the lives of many of our countrymen for the past 50 years,” he said.

“We do not have a chance with the so called ‘CPP-NPA-NDF’ peace panel who are only using the talks to reorganize and re-arm their forces and have no intent of coming to a political settlement with the government. So, we will just focus our efforts on localized peace engagements,” he added.

Meanwhile, Año commended the 727 members of the Kapatiran from Negros, Aklan, Bukidnon, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Luzon, and Mindanao for choosing a peaceful and better life as a result of a peace pact signed by the government and the rebel group.

Año said that packages of assistance are ready for them similar to what the 727 former rebels received from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Social Welfare and Development, PhilHealth, and National Housing Authority which handed over a start-up provision of shelter for them.

“This is all part of the package bundle under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).” Año said.

Under the E-CLIP, former rebels or their qualified beneficiaries are entitled to benefits ranging from guaranteed safety and security; monetary assistance such as P50,000 as livelihood assistance, P21,000 for meals cost and other expenses, and P15,000 per former rebel for mobilization expenses; and firearms remuneration amounting to the value of turned-in firearms, among others.