SEVENTY-five students from Maguindanao have benefited from the outreach program initiated by soldiers of the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the 603rd Infantry Brigade and members of the Taga Cotabato Ka Kung Incorporated (TCKKI).
Colonel Gerry Besana, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) information officer, said the beneficiaries of the outreach program are the students of Mompong Primary School in Datu Odin Sinsuat and in the village of Kuden in Talitay, both in Maguindanao.
Lieutenant Colonel Crizaldo Fernandez, Army’s 90th IB commander, and Cathleya Diocolano, TCKKI president, spearheaded the distribution of slippers and conduct of feeding program for the beneficiaries.
Besana said that the troops also discussed Anti-Violence against Women and Children, Child Protection Rights, and Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism with parents of the beneficiary-students and other participants.
Colonel Wilbur Mamawag, officer-in-charge of the 603rd IB, said they will continue to support community-focused development programs benefiting the less fortunate children.
Diocolano said the outreach program was possible because of the committed team of military personnel from the Joint Task Force (JTF) Central, who devoted their time, talents, and resources to serve children from the most conflict-affected areas.
“Our outreach program prioritized the most vulnerable, so the people we are working with have the sensitivity to reach out to those who are affected by the conflict in the area,” Major General Cirilito Sobejana, JTF Central commander, said in a statement.
Lieutenant General Arnel Dela Vega, Westmincom chief, said they continue to be involved in wide-ranging community programs that seek to help and guide children and other vulnerable sectors that may be influenced by the adverse effects of armed
conflicts in the area.
“We want to make them feel that they are not helpless and that there are those, including soldiers, who are willing to extend their helping hands,” Dela Vega said. (Bong Garcia)