Posted to the Western Mindanao Command (WESTMINCOM) Facebook Page (Mar 7, 2022): Exchanging Rifles for Pencils: Former combatants to undergo literacy training through GPH-MILF partnership
4th Civil Relations Group
Exchanging Rifles for Pencils: Former combatants to undergo literacy training through GPH-MILF partnership
After carrying rifles for decades, thousands of grizzled combatants will soon be channeling their energies in crafting essays and learning multiplication tables.
This, after the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity and Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) launched the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Program dubbed as “Functional Literacy for the Decommissioned Combatants in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao” on Thursday, February 24, in this city.
The program, which aims to provide functional literacy training to 5,512 former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants, will cover reading, writing, and numeracy skills,
In his remarks during the program’s launch, MBHTE Director-General Abdullah Salik Jr. said the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF leadership are working closely to implement programs that seek to uplift the lives of the former combatants and their families.
Salik stressed that no one should be left behind in the Bangsamoro people’s quest in achieving long-lasting peace and sustainable development.
“Ang tamis ng tagumpay ay walang saysay kung may mga taong mapag-iiwanan, lalo na ang mga taong naging bahagi ng mapait na nakaraan. At kayo ‘yon, mga kapatid naming Mujahidin,” he said.
“Kayo ang nagbibigay inspirasyon sa ating mga lider na isulong kung ano ang nararapat. Maging ito man ay programang pangkaunlaran o programang panlipunan,” Salik added.
Government of the Philippines Task Force for Decommissioned Combatants and their Communities (TFDCC) chairperson Atty. Laisah Masuhud-Alamia, in her message read by Sanabila Sabil, underscored that the OPAPRU and TFDCC shall help not just the decommissioned combatants in acquiring basic literacy skills, but also those who were forced to stop studying due to poverty and the decades-long armed conflict.
“Kami ay natutuwa na magsisimula na ang programa sapagkat ito ay napakalaking tulong hindi lamang para sa mga DCs (decommissioned combatants) nating nagnanais matutong magbasa, magsulat, at magbilang kundi maging sa mga nahinto ng pag-aaral dulot ng kahirapan o di kaya sa mga nagdaang digmaan,” Masuhud-Alamia explained.
She noted that the rollout of ALS literacy program, along with other socioeconomic interventions in the region, is a testament of the national government’s commitment to fulfill the agreements made under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
“Bilang patunay ng pagnanais ng kapayapaan at pagpapatupad ng napagkasunduan ng GPH at MILF, inihahandog namin ang programang ito para maipagpatuloy ninyo ang pangarap niyong makapag-aral muli,” Masuhud-Alamia said.
For his part, member of the MILF TFDCC Engr. Abdulmaomit Tomawis encouraged the beneficiaries to own the program because all interventions under the Bangsamoro peace process are the result of the struggle of those who painstakingly fought for the Bangsamoro people’s right to self-determination.
“Atin pong bigyang halaga ang programang ito. Bigyan natin ng sapat na oras. Ito po ay bunga ng pawis, dugo at buhay ng ating mga kasamahan at dapat lang na ating bigyang pansin at halaga,” Tomawis emphasized.
Johnson Baluno, who has been a member of the MILF Central Mindanao Front for decades, shared that he had experienced the hardships of war.
But with the signing of the peace agreement between the GPH and the MILF, Baluno and his comrades have found hope for a better future.
And now that they are walking the path of peace, they are pursuing their life-long dream to have an education through the ALS Program.
Baluno thanked the GPH and MILF for carrying out interventions that are improving the lives of the former combatants.
“Maraming salamat dahil kami sa side ng combatants, nagkatotoo ang pag-uusap ng gobyerno at MILF. ‘Yung mga combatants namin na no read no write, merong hakbang na ginawa para sa kanila para magkaroon sila ng kaalaman,” he said.
As part of the socioeconomic interventions for the DCs and their families under the normalization track of the CAB, the national and Bangsamoro governments forged a memorandum of agreement to implement PhP146.8M worth of education programs in the region.
Aside from the ALS program, the MOA also includes the implementation of the Educational Grant Assistance for College students. | @Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
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