The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity led the holding of a two-day workshop to outline the Transformation Program (TP) for former rebels in the province of Aurora.

It was attended by about 50 individuals including representatives of agencies and local governments and former rebels.

According to Acting Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Isidro Purisima, the current administration wants to continue the whole-of-nation approach following the good results from implementing the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in 2018.

Purisima also emphasized that the NTF-ELCAC requires each province to have a peace framework, in accordance with good governance and strong institutions, which is expected to be developed through the TP workshop.

The first day was devoted to the division of participants into the Safety and Security, Healing and Reconciliation, and Socioeconomic categories to listen to the grievances, issues, and obstacles that weaken the people’s organization that includes the former rebels.

After gathering views, the agencies laid out programs and projects as well as possible steps to address key issues in each category.

The event culminated with the signing of Commitment of Support for TP by the participants. (PIA 3)