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President Rodrigo Duterte has granted a two-month financial support to paramilitary members as he ordered the Department of Budget and Management to study the possibility of continuing aid on a monthly basis in the succeeding years.

Executive Order No. 69, which Duterte signed on December 4, said each qualified member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) Active Auxiliary Service will receive P7,000 per month, covering the months of November and December 2018.

Cafgu Active Auxiliary (CAA) units created in 1987 through an EO complement and support the regular forces of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in dealing with internal and external security threats.

They support the AFP by providing vital military intelligence, joining traditional and non-traditional military operations, securing conflict-affected communities, and acting as first responders during natural disasters, the EO read.

"There is a need to provide financial support to members of the CAA units, in recognition of the invaluable assistance they provide to the AFP in dealing with security threats, their indispensabe service in maintaining local peace and order and meeting local insurgencies, and the faithful performance of their dutines, which they carry out at great risk to themselves and their families," it added.

Duterte said the funding requirements for the grant of financial support to qualified CAA members for the last two months of this year would be sourced from his 2018 contingent fund.

He also directed the DBM "to study and propose measures" for the grant of financial support to qualified CAA members on a monthly basis for the succeeding years, as well as identify funding sources against which said aid could becharged.

The order shall take effect immediately upon the completion of its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Celerina Monte/DMS