With the surge of rebels surrendering in Northern Luzon, the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) beamed of completing 8 “Halfway Houses” to serve as temporary shelter for surrenderees and their families while processing their promised benefits from the government.
The 8 halfway houses are in Bantay, Ilocos Sur; Laoag City, Ilocos Norte; Burgos, Pangasinan; Lallo, Cagayan; Cabaruguis, Quirino; Lagangilang, Abra; Bontoc, Mt. Province; and Tabuk City, Kalinga.
These halfway houses have a total capacity of 271 individuals. Each has complete amenities and furniture and is just waiting for electricity and water connection for it to be fully operationalized.
Northern Luzon Command Chief, Lieutenant General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. hailed the local government units responsible for fast-tracking the completion of the halfway houses, saying “the timely completion of the halfway houses is a welcome development in the government’s fight against the communist terrorists. I commend the local government units and partner agencies responsible for the speedy completion of the projects, as it manifest their strong desire and unwavering commitment to end local communist armed conflict in their respective locality.”
“The completion of these halfway houses exhibits the government’s sincerity to address the plight of our people who have been deceived by the communist terrorists to support their false cause”, he added.
The construction of the halfway houses is part of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC). Aside from being a temporary shelter to former rebels and their families while processing their enrollment to ECLIP, the halfway house also serves as a venue for livelihood training and psycho-socio debriefing of the former rebels prior to their reintegration into mainstream society.
A total of 11 halfway houses are programmed to be constructed in Northern Luzon. The construction of the remaining 3 halfway houses is still ongoing.
