Google map of Misamis Occidental province.
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Development programs under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) have convinced 97 former rebels to surrender in Misamis Occidental province, the civil-military operations (CMO) office of the Army's 10th Infantry Battalion (IB) said Wednesday.
During an online forum, 1Lt. Aries Manili, the 10IB's CMO head, said with ELCAC's Barangay Development Programs, services from other government agencies managed to reach hinterland communities, convincing many rebels to yield.
"Before when we visit these (rural) communities, residents would ask us some favors about helping them. We refer these requests (to government offices assigned) but there are times that these were not acted upon," Manili said.
With ELCAC, Manili said other government agencies can go with them in the communities and directly provide services to the residents.
Meanwhile, the ELCAC programs such as Duterte Legacy Caravan on March 4 in far-flung Sitio Man-ai, Barangay Tignapoloan, of this city, where the Department of Labor and Employment in Northern Mindanao (DOLE-10) was able to promote its Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP).
DILEEP is one of the agency's flagship programs that open economic opportunities to the vulnerable and marginalized workers by providing them access to grant assistance for capacity building on entrepreneurial ventures, whether given to an individual or group undertaking.
DOLE-10 Cagayan de Oro office chief Emmanuel G. Toledo said the inter-agency event is regularly conducted to bring government services closer to the people.
Toledo said the strategy aims to lessen or eradicate insurgencies and armed conflict in the city and its outlying territories.
Last month, the Poverty Reduction, Livelihood, and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)-Misamis Oriental also facilitated the launch of its Heavy Equipment Backhoe Operators Training National Certification-2 (NC-2) in Barangay Bulahan, Claveria.
“We have done a lot of impact-driven programs that we were able to launch here in Misamis Oriental. This is just one of the 37 priority barangays that the PRLEC was able to provide interventions for our former rebels and their sympathizers,” TESDA-Misamis Oriental Provincial Director Marigold Cherie Garrido said.
As part of the PRLEC’s mandate to provide sustainable skilled communities in the region, 30 participants from Barangay Bulahan in Claveria are also expected to learn backhoe operations while given a PHP160 training allowance per day and another allowance for personal protective equipment during the training period. (PNA)
