BULUAN, MAGUINDANAO— One hundred fifty-five (155) decommissioned combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) received their National Competency II certificates after completing their skills trainings on Electrical Installation and Maintenance, Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Dressmaking, and Plant crops.
Maguindanao Provincial Office of the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education – Technical Education and Skills Development (MBHTE-TESD), in partnership with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Technical Vocational Institutes (TVIs), led the first mass graduation of the ex-combatants on Thursday, Jan. 13, in Buluan, Maguindanao.
The trainings were implemented under the Normalization Program or the Executive Order No. 79 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Section 1 of the EO states that the National Government recognizes that normalization “is a process whereby communities can achieve their designed quality of life within a peaceful and deliberative society.”
“To this end, the National Government adopts a Normalization Program that is multi-faceted and covers the aspects of security, socio-economic development, sustainable livelihood, political participation, confidence building, and transitional justice and reconciliation,” the EO further states.
To conduct the skills training for the ex-combatants, MBHTE-TESD coordinated with four (4) TVIs in Maguindanao, namely: Goldtown Technological Institute, Inc., Maguindanao Institute of Technology and Learning Center, Inc., Buluan Technical Educational and School of Life, Inc., and Eastern Kutawato Islamic Institute, Inc..
The 155 trainees were identified in collaboration with OPAPP. Thirty (30) of them underwent training on electrical installation and maintenance, 40 on shielded metal arc welding, 40 on dressmaking, and another 45 on agricultural crops production.
MBHTE-TESD Director General Ruby Andong emphasized that aside from the certificate, the trainees will also receive machineries, tool kits, and allowance.
“Ang na-implement palang natin ngayon ay 1,394 (trainees) sa Maguindanao. Mayroon tayong 95 na ongoing sa Lanao del Sur, 143 sa Tawi-Tawi, at nasa 200 sa Sulu ang ongoing din,” she said.
Meanwhile, MBHTE Minister Mohagher Iqbal, also the chair of MILF Implementing Peace Panel, said the skills training was one of the historic events for the former combatants.
“Kung ano man ang matanggap nila ay dahil sa kasama sila doon sa made-decommission na combatants. Yung mga knowledge na binigay natin sa kanila na skills training ay dapat pakinabangan nila …kailangang pag-aralan at i-implement din nila para makinabang din ang kanilang pamilya at kanilang community,” Iqbal said.
MBHTE-TESD, OPAPP, and other partner TVIs are committed to continually provide trainings for the decommissioned combatants. (Bangsamoro Information Office)
