TESDA allots P275M to train ex-MILF rebels

COTABATO CITY –– The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has allotted P275 million to help transform former combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to become productive members of mainstream society.

TESDA Director General Isidro Lapeña revealed the amount shortly after the signing of a memorandum of agreement between his agency and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP).

“We have programmed the amount for the entire BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)… An initial group of former MILF combatants will be trained as trainers,” he said in an interview.

The OPAPP and the BARMM government would jointly conduct a study to identify the training to be given to the ex-MILF fighters, Lapeña added.

Lapeña stressed that TESDA is committed to providing the decommissioned MILF combatants with skills to enable them to pursue a sustainable livelihood.

Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, Jr. said the partnership with TESDA would undertake initiatives in line with the normalization aspect of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the Duterte administration’s peace and development agenda.

Under the MOA, OPAPP, and TESDA shall adopt conflict-sensitive and peace-promoting approaches in Bangsamoro communities and assist the decommissioned members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the MILF’s armed wing, transition into civilian lives.

It also hopes to facilitate the transformation of six MILF camps into peaceful and productive communities through skills training and development.

“These interventions aim to assist the MILF-BIAF members in making the smooth transition to peaceful and productive civilian life,” Galvez said. /lzb