IN 2021, Dindo, a former recruiter of the Counter Terrorist Group (CTG), returned to the folds of the Philippine government.
His area of operation included Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, Sarangani, and nearby areas.
His preferred recruitment targets were the indigenous people residing in the mountains.
“They used the government’s shortcomings, sir, especially the lack of organization, free hospitalization, and the inaccessible assistance in remote areas where government aid couldn’t reach, sir,” according to Dindo Tapara, Former Rebel.
Dindo is just one of the hundreds of former rebels who are now being educated and trained for free by the government.
In fact, they completed the Organic Agriculture Production NC-II course with the help of the Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA).
Upon his return to Sultan Kudarat, TESDA Chief Suharto ‘Teng’ Mangudadatu emphasized that 75 former rebels are now eligible to work abroad because they hold an NC-II.
“Yes, that’s a license for locally and for abroad. That’s why we provide them with a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with enterprise-based, industry-based, so they understand when they are hired, for example, in construction… those they hire as carpenters are truly experts,” according to Sec. Suharto ‘Teng’ Mangudadatu, TESDA.
The Sultan Kudarat Provincial Government has also granted cash assistance of 20,000 pesos each to over 130 former rebels from the indigenous community.
The province remains peaceful due to good governance.
“We were able to distribute 20,000 pesos each… Now, they have graduated from TESDA courses. This is in line with our mission to truly have a transformation and give them a better life,” according to Gov. Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu, Province of Sultan Kudarat.
TESDA also distributed farm machinery to over 400 beneficiaries in various parts of the province.
The assistance recipients are a result of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) or EO-70 by former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
They are also a product of EO-79 by the former president, the ‘Annex of Normalization to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro’.
The EO ensures that residents in the Bangsamoro Region have a decent and peaceful life.
These programs are continued by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
“You know, our dear president really wants the entire Filipino nation to rise together. So, for the former rebels and the out-of-school youth, we give them the opportunity to undergo training under the TESDA Program,” Sec. Mangudadatu added.
“On behalf of the Lumad, the IPs… we are grateful to the government for giving us the opportunity to start anew,” Tapara said.
This is Secretary Teng’s first visit to Sultan Kudarat as TESDA chief.
He was a former governor of the province and a former Congressman.
Upon his homecoming, he was welcomed by the Capitol employees before heading out to distribute aid to former rebels.
There was also a Children’s Congress in the province in solidarity with Children’s Month.
