This, according to Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento.
“The OPAPRU was able to deliver its socio-economic commitments under our Transformation Program framework in key provinces in Mindanao, specifically in Region 12, as several former rebel people’s organizations received seed capital as livelihood assistance,” Sarmiento said.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office XII (DSWD), together with provincial government units in Region 12, awarded checks and certificates of accreditation to qualified PAMANA Livelihood Program Associations (PLPAs) to support their enterprise development initiatives in the second week of May.
The OPAPRU, through its Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) Program National Project Management Office, provided funding for the socioeconomic intervention. The OPAPRU’s CPP-NPA-NDF Peace Process Office, which is among the agency’s peace tables, endorsed the list of FR-led people’s organizations that are eligible to receive government socio-economic assistance and livelihood support.
P11.7 million socio-economic aid for 37 FR-led POs
Validation and initial profiling of the FR-led people’s organizations were conducted by the Area Management Unit–South-Central Mindanao (AMU-SCM), under the Local Conflict Transformation–Field Implementation Support Unit–Mindanao (LCT-FISU Mindanao), to ensure that the agency’s interventions are efficiently delivered to FRs.
In Region 12, the P11.7 million in socio-economic aid was given to 37 former rebel organizations organized by former members of the CPP-NPA-NDF across the provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat, in a bid to strengthen the implementation of the OPAPRU’s Transformation Program in non-BARMM areas.
“This livelihood assistance presents a very good opportunity to strengthen and sustain peace gains in conflict-affected and vulnerable areas, and support the successful transformation of former rebels into their communities in Region 12,” Sarmiento noted.
The livelihood assistance, coursed through provincial government units, according to him, forms part of a PLGU-led peace framework that serves as a roadmap for the reintegration and transformation of former rebels, their families, and communities.
In Cotabato Province, livelihood projects include agricultural and agrivet supply enterprises, rice retailing, mini-groceries, and livestock-related ventures such as frozen meat production.
Sarangani Province implemented a more diversified set of livelihood activities, including goat raising, general merchandise stores, mini-groceries combined with agricultural supply services, agri-vet supply businesses, and rice wholesale operations.
South Cotabato focused on rice retailing, mini-groceries, agri-vet supply, general merchandise, and swine fattening enterprises to strengthen local community-based economic activities.
Meanwhile, the province of Sultan Kudarat recorded the largest number of beneficiary associations and livelihood projects. It prioritized agri-vet supply stores, general merchandise businesses, grocery operations, and mixed agri-commercial enterprises, alongside specialized projects such as community-based coffee processing and chair-and-table rental services.
Several associations in Kalamansig, Palimbang, Lebak, Esperanza, Columbio, and other municipalities received funding support to establish sustainable income-generating activities intended to improve rural productivity, strengthen local trade, and provide economic opportunities for conflict-affected and marginalized communities under the OPAPRU’s Transformation and PAMANA Program.
Transformation Program as a PLGU-led peace framework
Sarmiento explained that the OPAPRU’s Transformation Program is a holistic and localized peace framework that is anchored on Conflict-Sensitive and Peace-Promoting (CSSP) approaches.
In the absence of a peace agreement with the CPP-NPA-NDF, the Transformation Program aims to address the needs of FRs, their families, and communities through a holistic, convergent implementation of its four components - Security, Confidence Building, Healing and Reconciliation, and Socio-Economic Intervention.
These four pillars, which put local at the frontline of implementation, seek to achieve the following: Security to ensure legal and physical protection; Confidence Building to restore trust in the state; Healing and Reconciliation to repair the social fabric of communities; and Socio-Economic Intervention to provide sustainable livelihood.
“This localized strategy ensures that the transition from conflict to civilian life is not merely a surrender, but a holistic evolution supported by the provincial government to address the root causes of insurgency at the grassroots level,” Sarmiento said, pointing that all interventions and programs under each component are to be pursued through a whole-of-government, whole-of-nation approach.
Positive Peace, human capital
Sarmiento also noted that when local governments spearhead the four components of the Transformation Program, they are not just preventing situations of conflict but are also actively cultivating what he described as the "attitudes, institutions, and structures" that sustain a peaceful society, ensuring that every former rebel is given a stake in a thriving, equitable community.
“Under the guidance of President Marcos, Jr., our goal is not merely putting an end to armed conflict but the cultivation of a lasting, positive peace. By bringing the government closer to the people through the Transformation Program, we are proving that good things happen to those who walk the path of peace,” the peace adviser said.
He added that the strength of the Transformation Program lies in advancing positive peace by investing in people and communities. It strengthens human capital through healing, capacity-building, and socio-economic support, enabling them to rebuild their lives as peaceful and productive members of society.
Outcomes-based
Beyond the delivery of socio-economic interventions, Sarmiento underscored a fundamental shift in the agency’s strategy toward an "outcomes-based" rather than a mere "input-based" approach.
He emphasized that it is not just about measuring the number of projects launched or the amount of funds disbursed, but about tracking the actual impact of these initiatives on the lives of the people through inclusive development and community-driven interventions.
"We must look beyond the initial inputs and focus on the lasting outcomes in communities that are recovering from conflict," Sarmiento said.
“By prioritizing the growth of human capital and the creation of equitable opportunities, the program ensures that development is not a top-down process but a localized success story. Our initiative seeks not only to improve household incomes but also to institutionalize long-term community resilience and self-sufficiency,” he emphasized.
Monitoring of beneficiaries
Meanwhile, Atty. Elisa Evangelista-Lapina, Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Executive Director for Local Conflict Transformation, said the LCT-FISU Mindanao will collaborate with DSWD 12 to track the socio-economic outcomes of the 39 FR-led POs that initially received livelihood assistance of P300,000 from the national government.
“By shifting from an ‘input-based’ model to one that measures the actual growth of human capital within these 39 FR-led associations, the government is building the resilience of communities against conflict and the recovery efforts of the communist group,” Evangelista said, who concurrently serves as the Head of LCT-FISU Mindanao.
In Region 12 alone, the Transformation Program has made significant strides by providing socio-economic support to FR-led POs such as the Tamayao Kasbakas PAMANA Livelihood Program Association in Sarangani and the MIPAFA in Cotabato. These organizations are utilizing the PAMANA and Peace and Development – Buong Bansa Mapayapa (PDBBM) financial assistance to establish various livelihood ventures ranging from general merchandise stores and portable gasoline stations to common service facilities for farming.
By focusing on these POs as the primary vehicles for change, Evangelista said the LCT-FISU Mindanao ensures that "whole-of-government support reaches the grassroots, turning the four pillars of the Transformation Program into a lived reality for the beneficiaries in Cotabato and hundreds more across the SOCCSKSARGEN region.”
LCT-FISU Mindanao is a unit under the CPP-NPA-NDF Peace Process Office that oversees and provides strategic guidance to the Area Management Units in Regions 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, which are known as former strongholds of the CPP-NPA-NDF.
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