Army, TESDA Ink MOA for Skills Training Provision to Ilocos Residents

Ranking officials of the Philippine Army (PA) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the provision of free livelihood skills training for the residents in Ilocos Sur.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Castillo, the commander of the Army’s 81st Infantry Batallion based in Sta. Cruz, Ilocos Sur, represented the Army during the MOA signing while Provincial Director Marissa Alcantara represented the TESDA.

The ceremony was held on Tuesday at the TESDA-Ilocos Sur provincial office in Vigan City.

Castillo said the initiative was realized to create an efficient working relationship between the Army and the TESDA for the delivery of effective livelihood skills training programs that would empower the people in the community.

Under the MOA, Castillo said the TESDA-Ilocos Sur will conduct the skills training and entrepreneurship training to the residents of the communities identified by his troops.

“Aside from identifying the community-recipients of the skills training program, we are also looking for the sponsors, who will provide the logistics for the conduct of the training,” Castillo said.

Some of the skills training initially identified to be offered by the TESDA to the beneficiaries are carpentry, cooking, dress making and welding.

These skills trainings provided by the TESDA are part of the Community Support Program (CSP) of the Army’s 81st Infantry Battalion.

The CSP in Ilocos Sur is part of the AFP’s Development Support and Security Plan “Kapayapaan” in collaboration with local government units (LGUs), and the national government agencies like TESDA, among others.

“The CSP is a community-based, people-oriented peace and development effort aimed to establish and develop disaster and conflict-resilient communities and to determine the prevailing issues and needs of the communities in conflict-affected areas (ConAAs),” he said.

Castillo said that his troops have initially identified 11 barangays as recipients of the CSP in Ilocos Sur.

According to Castillo, the partnership initiative is in line with the Section 6 of the Executive Order Number 70 dated December 04, 2018 issued by His Excellency, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte mandating the convergence of all departments, bureaus, offices, agencies or instrumentalities of the government, including Government-owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) to render the necessary support to the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

“With or without MOA, it is our pleasure to be working with the Philippine Army in order to attain what is mandated. But now that we are more than obliged because of the MOA, rest assured that TESDA-Ilocos Sur will always take part in their future endeavors,” Alcantara said. (AMB/FGL, PIA-1)