Manila: The PHP7.094 billion proposed 2025 budget of the Office of Presidential Adviser on Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) is now up for Senate plenary deliberation after passing the committee deliberations on Wednesday.

Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., during the hearing presided by Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, said the proposed budget is 2.7 percent higher than the agency’s approved budget for this year to accelerate OPAPRU’s normalization and transformation programs for former combatants and rebels, as well as their families and communities.

‘Therefore, we must invest in peace… This requires a whole-of-nation and whole-of-society approach to guarantee that over 30,000 former rebels do not go back to radicalism, terrorism, and violent armed conflicts,’ he told members of the Senate panel.

Galvez said the budget will also provide a major boost to the Philippine government’s peace investments, which is crucial in completing the rem
aining commitments under all signed peace agreements.

‘We are now in the final stretch in the fulfillment of commitments, as we deliver our expanded mandate to implement components of all signed peace agreements,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa was impressed of OPAPRU’s effective implementation of its ‘Localizing Normalization Implementation’ (LNI), a mechanism designed to complement and support the Normalization Program under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

Galvez said the strategy of actively involving local government units in the normalization and transformation processes has been crucial in the success of the LNI and localized approach at the provincial level.

‘Nakita po namin ang success sa Basilan. Kasi right after po [na] nagkaroon po tayo ng (We saw its success in Basilan. Because right after we had the) signing, there are more or less 500 firearms that have been turned over to us,’ he said.

Galvez said in the Visayas, the OPAPRU is in the final stages of implementing socio-e
conomic projects for the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPM-P/RPA/ABB) now called Kapatiran.

‘Nasa 91 percent na po more or less ang obligations natin. So, medyo konti na lang po ang kailangan natin (We have already complied to more or less 91 percent of our obligations. So, we just need a little more),’ he said.

Dela Rosa also underscored the need for the OPAPRU to prioritize and increase its budget for projects under its PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA) program, particularly for the Visayas Region.

This move, he said, will enable the government to address the lack of road projects and other infrastructure facilities particularly in the areas of Eastern Samar.

Dela Rosa also advised OPAPRU to closely coordinate with the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council to make Senate Bill No. 2043, also known as the ‘Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Act for Bangsamoro’ a priority bill.

Source: Philippines News age
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