BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Soldiers, militiamen and former rebels once fighting against each other in the battlefields of the north in this province gathered for the first time last week to study financial literacy and means to add to their income.
Lieutenant Dan Carlo Samoza said in a dispatch the soldiers, militiamen and former rebels joined the training at the 79th Infantry Battalion’s headquarters in Bato, a village of Sagay City more than an hour’s drive north from here.
Samoza, civil military officer of the battalion nicknamed “Masaligan,” said the training is part of a series of activities for the battalion’s 18th founding anniversary this month.
He added Battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Arnel Calaoagan, initiated the project together with Capitol’s Development Office and the Technical Livelihood Development Center, and the Association of Negros Producers.
“It is a must that we sustain our assistance to them in the best and possible way we can in order for us to be more united and for them to always have that glimpse of hope that we and the government will always be with a helping hand for them,” Calaoagan said about the reason for the training.
Learners were taught skills how to manage their income amid current economic conditions.
TLDC staff led by Liberty Alarcon with Marichelle Matti, Richard Villarin, Joseph Rabacal, Reymark Beira, Mark Anthony Jungco and Jose Dayo also gave a training on how to make soap, body soap and dishwashing liquid as part of ways to add to their incomes.
