MAGPET, Cotabato (DWDD) – A total of 27 individuals completed the first batch of the Skills Training Program in Carpentry that was initiated by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Institute of Motorbike and Auto Mechanics Incorporated (IMAMI) and 19th Infantry Battalion at Barangay Manobo, Magpet, Cotabato, on October 25, 2018.
According to 1Lt. Prolen Bonacua, Commanding Officer of Alpha Company, 19th Infantry Battalion, twenty (20) among the participants were former CPP-NPA terrorists who yielded during the start of 19IB’s counter-insurgency campaign in Arakan Valley Complex on first semester of this year.
Engr. Franklin Beltran, representative from TESDA – North Cotabato Office said that the participants were able to complete their training, in line with the agency’s National Integration Scholarship Program (NISP), which seeks to empower the former rebels and help them go back to the mainstream society.
Aside from receiving their National Certificate (NC) from TESDA, the participants were also provided with starter tool kits for them to start their own livelihood. They also received Php 2,400 as cash allowance during their 24 days of skills training. Alias James, one of the participants was teary-eyed before the other attendees, as he gave his testimony during the Closing Ceremony of their training. He could not imagine that the government he hated for several years of being in the armed movement is the same government who extends assistance to him and his former comrades.
He also lauded the local officials, partner agencies and soldiers of Alpha Company, 19th Infantry Battalion who are presently conducting Community Support Program (CSP) in Barangay Manobo and nearby villages in the town of Magpet.
“Kung wala ang sundalo sa among barangay, magduhaduha gayud pag nganhi ang mga taga TESDA ug uban pang ahensya sa gobyerno tungod sa mga NPA nga nakasulod dinhi sa among lugar. (It would have been difficult for TESDA and other government agencies to come here without the presence of the military because our village is infested by the NPA) Alias James said.
For his part, Lt. Col. Ehrlich Noel Paraso, Commanding Officer of 19IB believed that it will be easier for former CPP-NPA terrorist to fully return to the mainstream society if they are equipped with skills that will help improve their families’ standard of living.
“Government interventions cited in the Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) such as the skills training provided by TESDA through the Institute of Motorbike and Auto Mechanics Incorporated (IMAMI) is one of their doors towards embracing a new life together with their family. Again, I am calling for the remaining bandits who are still out there in the mountains to grab the opportunities the government has offered: surrender and live a normal life”, Paraso said. 19IB / MCAG
http://dwdd.com.ph/2018/10/26/graduate-ex-npa-ips-finish-tesda-course/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.