SHIFT TO BUSINESS. Former BIFF extremists undergo entrepreneurial training for livelihood through the help of the BARMM’s MILG and MTIT offices to make them productive citizens of their communities. The latest of such training carried out under MILG-BARMM’s Project TuGon (Tulong Ng Gobyernong Nagmamalasakit) ran from Aug. 11 to 18 in the towns of Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao; President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat; and Kabacan, North Cotabato. (Photos courtesy of MILG-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – A total of 152 former members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) have completed entrepreneurial skills training from Project TuGon (Tulong Ng Gobyernong Nagmamalasakit) of the Ministry of Interior and Local Government-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MILG - BARMM).
The skills training was held separately between Aug. 11 to 18 at Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao; President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat; and Kabacan, North Cotabato, in partnership with the Ministry of Trade, Investments and Tourism (MTIT) - BARMM.
BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said Thursday these trainings were in preparation for the former BIFF combatants’ reintegration into the mainstream society as productive citizens.
With the help from the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, 601st and 602nd Infantry Brigades, the entrepreneurship development training was part of the assistance of Project TuGoN purposely to capacitate former combatants on starting up a business, gain financial literacy, business resiliency, and other important areas of free enterprise.
“We believe that those BIFFs still out there would now be convinced that the government is serious in helping their comrades return to the mainstream,” he said in a statement Thursday.
He said Project TuGoN also plans to hold the same activity in the provinces of Lanao Del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and the 63 BARMM villages in North Cotabato to cater to former combatants in availing of the skills training that could help them reshape their lives.
Sinarimbo said the BARMM government will continue its drive to end local armed conflict in the region and encourage other lawless groups to surrender and avail the Project TuGoN programs and services. (PNA)
