Former Philippine rebels swap guns for spanners

From the Gulf News (Apr 28): Former Philippine rebels swap guns for spanners

Training available includes courses in bread and pastry production, carpentry, as well as motorcycle and small engine repairs

Dozens of former Philippine rebel fighters, who have been caught up in conflict for most of their lives, are being given a chance to enter mainstream society under a programme that provides them with skills training.

According to Government Peace Panel Chair Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, a number of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf/Moro rebels) members who were decommissioned as fighters have graduated from a government programme to provide them with livelihood training. “This is one way of showing your co-Filipinos that the Milf/Moro rebels is sincere in its signed agreements with the government,” Ferrer said during a speech she gave to graduates of the course in Simuay, Sultan Kudarat last April 25. The training was provided by the government Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and had included courses on bread and pastry production, driving, carpentry, cookery, motorcycle/small engine repair, dressmaking/tailoring, automotive servicing, electrical installation and maintenance, welding, and entrepreneurship. Coronel-Ferrer said that the decommissioned combatants play important roles in the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the pact signed two years ago, that ultimately aims to end the decades old conflict between the government and the country’s biggest Moro separatist group, the Milf/Moro rebels.

For their part, the graduates expressed their appreciation of their freshly acquired skills and its impact on their new life as unarmed civilians. “This occasion is important because it happened as part of comprehensive and thorough changes in our lives and I hope we can face and triumph over the challenges that these changes may bring,” said Yacob Palao, one of the graduates of the course. Providing livelihood to former rebels is vital as they had been unable to attend formal schooling that could land them jobs. The decommissioning process of the Milf/Moro rebels is part of the signed CAB. Its first phase was completed last June 2015 where 145 combatants were registered and 75 high-powered and crew-served weapons were turned over to the government. The peace process between the government and the Milf/Moro rebels was initiated during the administration of former President Joseph Estrada in 1999 and had continued on under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. However, it was during the incumbency of the present leader, President Benigno Aquino III that a comprehensive peace agreement was signed. The remaining important juncture in the process, the provision of a law that will provide the basis for the formation of a new self-govern administration that would replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) set up, the Bangsamoro Basic Law, is yet to be signed into an edict. Once a Bangsamoro Basic Law is passed in Congress, several thousands of Milf/Moro rebels combatants and weapons will be processed for decommissioning. All decommissioned combatants will receive the same socioeconomic packages and training opportunities that would enable them to transition to productive, civilian lives. On Wednesday, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the Support Peace-Bangsamoro project that aims to sustain the peace efforts. The Support Peace-Bangsamoro project will be implemented from 2016 to mid-2017, EU Ambassador Franz Jessen and UNDP Philippines Country Director Titon Mitra said. The project would be funded with €1.2 million (P63 million or Dh5 million) from EU. The UNDP will serve as the implementing arm of the endeavour. The aims it build up the capacity of local leaders and other stake holders on public administration and parliamentary processes.

http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/philippines/former-philippine-rebels-swap-guns-for-spanners-1.1814413