ONE hundred fifty-five decommissioned combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) received their National Competency II certificates after completing their skills training in Buluan, Maguindanao.
They have undergone skills training and graduated Thursday, January 13, on Electrical Installation and Maintenance, Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Dressmaking, and crops production skills training.
The training was conducted by the Maguindanao Provincial Office of the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education-Technical Education and Skills Development (MBHTE-TESD), in partnership with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Technical Vocational Institutes (TVIs).
MBHTE-TESD Director-General Ruby Andong said of the 155 trainees, 30 underwent training on electrical installation and maintenance, 40 on shielded metal arc welding, 40 on dressmaking, and another 40 on agricultural crops production.
Andong said the graduates received pieces of machinery, tool kits, and allowance aside from the certificate of completion.
Andong said training was implemented under the Normalization Program or the Executive Order (EO) No. 79 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Section 1 of the EO stated that the National Government recognizes that normalization “is a process whereby communities can achieve their designed quality of life within a peaceful and deliberative society.”
“To this end, the National Government adopts a Normalization Program that is multi-faceted and covers the aspects of security, socio-economic development, sustainable livelihood, political participation, confidence building, and transitional justice and reconciliation,” the EO further stated.
Andong said the skills training for the former MILF combatants was conducted in coordinate with four TVIs in Maguindanao, namely: Goldtown Technological Institute Incorporated; Maguindanao Institute of Technology and Learning Center Incorporated; Buluan Technical Educational and School of Life Incorporated; and, Eastern Kutawato Islamic Institute Incorporated.
The 155 trainees were identified in collaboration with OPAPP.
Meanwhile, MBHTE Minister Mohagher Iqbal, also the chair of MILF Implementing Peace Panel, said the skills training was one of the historic events for the former combatants.
Iqbal said they will continue to provide training for the decommissioned combatants of the MILF. (SunStar Zamboanga)