SOME 3,000 scholarship slots will be allotted to members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in a bid to help them improve their lives, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) revealed on Sunday.
Tesda Director General Guiling A. Mamondiong said they expect that the scholarships would make the members of the MILF and MNLF eligible to avail themselves of free skills-training programs of the agency.
Mamondiong added they believe the free skills training will help members of the MILF and MNLF improve their lives. The training will open up jobs and livelihood opportunities to them and give them the chance to participate in the development programs of the government, he said.
“The target beneficiaries are the MNLF and MILF in ARMM [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao] communities to empower and uplift their lives along with others belonging in the marginalized sectors through employment and livelihood opportunities,” Mamondiong said.
The target beneficiaries include 1,000 MILF and MNLF members from Lanao del Sur, 1,000 from Maguindanao and another 1,000 from Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga.
Tesda is extending similar privileges to members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army.
According to him, the scholars will be trained in skills in various sectors, such as agriculture, automotive, construction, tourism, metals and engineering, heating, ventilations, air-conditioning and refrigeration, semiconductor, electronics, furnitures and fixtures, garment and textile, health, social and other community development services.
The training programs will have durations of not more than 40 days and will be done under Tesda’s Training for Work Scholarship Program.
Aside from free training, Mamondiong said that the scholarship beneficiaries will also be given free assessment and receive a training support fund.
The Tesda chief has called on the members of the MNLF and the MILF to visit any Tesda office in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga and Basilan for enlistment of free training.