Japan grant: 1.8B yen for vocational training of ex-MILF rebels

MANILA, Philippines—Japan has extended a 1.8-billion yen (over P713 million) grant to the Philippines to rebuild a vocational training center for ex-Moro rebels in Marawi City and help rehabilitate the area flattened by armed conflict in 2017.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) last June 8 signed the grant agreement for the program for urgent improvement of socioeconomic infrastructures in the Bangsamoro region.

“The program will contribute to the support of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) soldiers, helping them to build-up vocational skills based on the needs of local industry,” said Jica in a statement on Thursday (June 9).

“It will do so through the reconstruction of a vocational training center in Marawi City, Bangsamoro region and the provision of relevant equipment in the region as a whole,” Jica said.

The program—to be implemented by Neda in Mindanao—will run for 36 months. It had also been identified as a priority by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, Jica said.

Not only Marawi but also the bigger Bangsamoro region—Cotabato City, and the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi—were targeted to benefit from the Jica-funded program.

The latest Department of Finance-Bureau of Local Government Finance (DOF-BLGF) data on Friday (June 10) showed that 16 local government units (LGUs) borrowed a combined P2.5 billion in May to roll-out mostly infrastructure projects.

At the end of the first five months of 2022, at least 102 LGUs sought a total of P17.1 billion in borrowings from government financial institutions (GFIs).

TSB