Program addresses security and environmental preservation
TACLOBAN CITY – The local government of Borongan City has launched an innovative initiative that merges environmental protection with efforts to combat insurgency by hiring former rebels as forest guards.
About 29 former members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, were sworn in as deputized environment and natural resources officers (DENROs) by Borongan City Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda and DENR-8 Regional Executive Director Lormelyn Claudio during a simple ceremony on Sept. 11.
This move aims to simultaneously bolster the city’s environmental conservation efforts while promoting peace and reintegration of former insurgents into society.
In a phone interview, Mayor Agda emphasized that engaging them as forest rangers aligns with his administration’s broader efforts to tackle the social and economic issues that drive individuals toward insurgency.
“We hired these former rebels because, as residents of Borongan, they know the terrain and, more importantly, we want to give them a second chance to live a normal life,” Agda said on Saturday, Sept. 21.
“It is my duty to provide them with reasons not to return to insurgency and to offer them the good life they’ve long deserved through this program,” he added.
Agda hopes that this initiative will contribute to resolving the insurgency problem not only in Borongan but also in Eastern Samar as a whole.
He acknowledged that while those employed as forest guards have returned to the fold of the law, some active NPA rebels in remote villages hail from other municipalities within the province.
The mayor also emphasized that addressing poverty, a root cause of insurgency, is critical to solving the problem.
“Poverty is one of the main reasons people turn against the government. By providing livelihood opportunities, like employing them as forest guards, we are addressing this issue head-on,” he added.
Agda expressed his deep commitment to forest conservation, recognizing the vital role forests play in protecting Borongan City from natural disasters such as typhoons and flooding.
“Borongan is in a typhoon belt, and preserving our forests is essential to safeguarding our communities from natural calamities.”
Borongan City has a history of insurgency-related violence.
Among the incidents was the ambush of six soldiers by the NPA on November 12, 2019, in Barangay Pinanang-an, which also left 20 others wounded.
More recently, on January 6, 2024, a top NPA rebel identified as Martin Colima, alias “Moki,” was killed in an encounter in Brgy. San Gabriel, also in Borongan City.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
