The Senate’s Finance Subcommittee C headed by Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa approved on Wednesday, September 25, the proposed budget of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) for fiscal year 2025.

The Senate Finance Subcommittee approval of the OPAPRU’s budget comes on the heels of the House of Representatives’ greenlighting of the peace agency’s funding requirements for next year.

Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. presented the OPAPRU’s proposed Php 7.094 billion budget for next year, which is 2.7% higher than the agency’s approved budget for fiscal year 2024.

Amplifying GPH’s peace investments

According to Galvez, the proposed budget is needed to accelerate the implementation of 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.

The peace adviser also stressed that the proposed Php 7 billion budget for the agency will provide a major boost to the Philippine government’s peace investments, which is crucial in completing the remaining commitments under all signed peace agreements and ensure the transformation of former rebels and combatants into peaceful and productive members of society.

“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,” Galvez said.

Senator Bato commends LNI

During the panel deliberations, Senator Bato lauded OPAPRU’s effective implementation of its “Localizing Normalization Implementation” (LNI).

The LNI is a mechanism designed to complement and support the Normalization Program under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the landmark peace agreement between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014.

Galvez noted that 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 signing, there are more or less 500 firearms that have been turned over to us,” he said.

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

“Nasa 91% na po more or less ang obligations natin. So, medyo konti na lang po ang kailangan natin,” he pointed out.

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

TJR Bill: A priority

Bato likewise advised OPAPRU to closely coordinate with the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to make Senate Bill No. 2043, also known as the “Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Act for Bangsamoro,” a priority bill.

The senator from Mindanao who sponsored OPAPRU’s budget proposal also encouraged Galvez to push the peace agency’s request for additional budget for its underfunded priority requirements under FY 2025, which include the continuing financial support needed to deploy Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPST) across GPH and MILF-agreed areas in the Bangsamoro. The JPSTs are crucial in supporting peace and order and security in areas where they are deployed. ###