TULUNAN, COTABATO — Belly Berana Jr. was raised in a family where the revolution was not something distant or abstract. It was part of their everyday life. And long before he carried a firearm as a fighter of the New People’s Army, he had already inherited the war of his parents. He and his three siblings grew up under the care of their grandmother while their parents worked underground as cadres of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA. Their community in Pantu

Twenty-one former rebels in Agusan del Norte have taken another step toward rebuilding their lives after receiving more than P1.78 million in government assistance under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), reinforcing the government’s continuing push for peace and reintegration.