Following the
turnover of their firearms during the ceremonial decommissioning last year, 133
of the 145 combatants of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces of the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (BIAF-MILF) are now Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) certified.
The free vocational courses and skills
training program is the TESDA’s contribution to the socio-economic package for
the decommissioned combatants to help them productively re-integrate back to
their communities and their families under the Annex on Normalization of the
Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
Some 133 TESDA graduates were
in attendance to the simple closing ceremony on April 25, held at the Old
Capitol, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao – the same venue where the 145 BIAF laid
down their firearms on June 16, 2015.
According to the GPH-peace panel chair
Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, before the TESDA training, some of them undergo
evaluation and the literacy classes organized by the Department of Education
(DepEd).
“Out of 145, the 133 chose the TESDA training while the remaining 12
decommissioned combatants chose the educational track,” Ferrer said.
Each
trainee received P412.00 per day allowance – P206.00 from TESDA and with the
counterpart of P206.00 from OPAPP.
The chair said, it is expected that the cash
and starter kits they received will serve as their capital to start a small
livelihood business.
Aside from TESDA, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will
provide banca to those decommissioned combatants wherein fishing is the main
source of income, Ferrer explained.
“Lahat ng ito ay preparasyon para doon sa
mangyayaring malakihang decommissioning pagdating ng BBL - libu-libo na ang
ating pag-uusapan at mas lalong pang-aayusin ang proseso pagdating sa phase 2
ng Annex on Normalization na mag-uumpisa kapag naipasa na ang BBL sa Kongreso,”
she added. (These are all in preparation for the major decommissioning to take
place once the BBL will be passed – there are thousands of combatants and all
the processes will be improved on the phase 2 of the Annex on Normalization
when Congress passes the draft law).
She assured that they will pursue the BBL
on the next administration to continue and complete the components of Annex on
Normalization which include the component of decommissioning in the
transformation process.
Based on the TESDA’s data, 41 decommissioned combatants
finished the driving course, 25 on carpentry, motorcycle/small engine mechanic
(23), bread and pastry production (13), dressmaking /tailoring (9),
cookery/food processing (4), 7 trainees each for welding and electrical
installation and maintenance and 2 trainees each for the automotive servicing
and entrepreneurship training.
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1661461910090/133-milf-decommissioned-combatants-declared-tesda-certified
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.