The first batch of soldiers who will conduct training in Geographically-Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs) including Indigenous People’s Communities, recently finished the Training Methodology Course as conducted by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) .
A total of 16 personnel from the 355th Aviation Engineer Wing of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) led by their Wing Commander Brigadier General George Blanco were lauded in a ceremony Tuesday as graced by TESDA-III Regional Director Retired Major General Jesus Fajardo as the Guest of Honor and Speaker representing TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña.
Fajardo stressed that the opportunities provided by the training will help in Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
The soldiers participated in the ceremony of Trainers Methodology Level I Training through video teleconferencing held at the Multi-Purpose Building of their headquarters at Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga.
The said training was concluded in partnership with TESDA Pampanga Provincial Office and Gonzalo-Puyat School of Arts and Trades (GPSAT) in San Luis town.
"This is what we have been hoping to achieve with our partnership with the AFP and we expect this partnership to bear more fruits along the way so we can attend to the needs of more of our kababayans in far-flung communities. I congratulate our first pool of soldier-trainers," Lapeña said.
The graduates will become trainers and assessors who will then conduct construction-related training and assessment in GIDAS as well as Indigenous People’s Communities.
Members of these communities are expected to become skilled labor force for construction and engineering projects in their areas not only by PAF, but also by the PRLEC and the Build, Build, Build program of the Duterte Administration.
The Trainers Methodology Level I Training with TESDA is the first under the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the said agency and the Department of National Defense (DND).