THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) in Negros Occidental has conducted its first Provincial Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) meeting at the Nature's Village Resort in Talisay City recently.
The agency, which chairs the cluster, in a statement, said the activity is in response to the Executive Order No. 70 of President Rodrigo Duterte "Institutionalizing the Whole-of-Nation Approach in Attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace, Creating a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict."
Tesda-Western Visayas Regional Director Gaspar Gayona, who served as resource speaker during the cluster meeting, presented the Convergence Action Plans and Framework of Value Chain Programming.
Gayona said the action plan will respond to the implementation of EO at the provincial level.
He cited the importance of convergence and inter-cluster collaboration in addressing insurgency.
The official encouraged the member-agencies to sit down and work together in the pursuit of the country's peace agenda.
Police Colonel Romeo Baleros, provincial director of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo), assured the PRLEC members that the Philippine National Police is doing its share to end insurgency problem in the country.
Baleros said they will continue to conduct law enforcement operations in order to maintain the areas free from NPA presence.
"Let us continue to collaborate so that we can attain the timeline of the President before 2021 that this country should be free from insurgencies," he added.
The meeting was also attended by other government agencies, local government units, and officials from insurgency-affected barangays in the province.
Attendees also signed their pledge of support and cooperation to the implementation of the order.