Ky Johnson, Deputy Country Representative of The Asia Foundation; Deputy Ambassador Trevor Lewis and Maj. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps, as they present a certificate of completion to one of the participants of the CRT Program.
SULU (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 30, 2012) – Over two dozen soldiers and policemen have recently finished a 10-day community relations training program in the southern Philippine province of Sulu
The program was spearheaded by the Philippine Marines in Sulu and the Task Force Kahanungan Network, with support from the UK Government’s Department for International Development through The Asia Foundation.
It was part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
The training course is the first of six in 2012 which will cover all AFP units and their police counterparts in Sulu.
British Deputy Ambassador Trevor Lewis, who attended the graduation ceremony in Sulu, lauded the initiative.
“I was very impressed to hear about this project where we see cooperation between the military, the police and civil society working together to build a bridge with law enforcement agencies and the local community,” he said, adding that the program will contribute to creating an environment that will support whatever government structure the future brings to this region.
Aside from Lewis, among the guests during the CRT graduation ceremony were Ky Johnson, Deputy Country Representative of The Asia Foundation to the Philippines and the Asia Pacific; Professor Miriam Ferrer, government panel member in the GPH-MILF talks; Bai Yasmin Lao, government panel member in the GPH-MILF talks; Wilfredo Torres, Project Officer of the Asia Foundation; Vice Admiral Armando Guzman of the Sulu Task Force Joint Island Command; and Maj. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps.
The program is the first peace building initiative where the AFP engages in broad collaboration with the civil society immersing with the grassroots at community level. With a locally conceptualized, designed and assessed curriculum, the development of the training was based on the identified essential tasks of a typical Marine deployed in Sulu, including engaging Muslim communities for peace and development efforts.
Col. Romulo Quemado, Deputy Commander of the 9th Marine Battalion Landing Team said: “We need the help of the people of Sulu for the AFP to understand the over-all context of our operational environment while enhancing our community relations to achieve better understanding of the people we have sworn to serve and protect. The CRT project contributed a lot in changing the image of the AFP and in restoring broken relations brought about by long standing conflicts between the military and the people.”
The CRT series has no current equivalent course in the AFP and is expected to be an integral part of the over-all effort to enhance the security sector’s relations with the communities it serves. To attain a multiplier effect, the programme will delve on a “train the trainers” concept, and video or audio recordings of key lectures will be disseminated as field augmentative instructional materials for far-flung detachments.
Among the training outcomes of the program are to understand the socio-cultural, religious and historical context in Sulu and superimpose this during community engagement opportunities; develop self-awareness in relation to the over-all peace campaign for Sulu.
And establish a sustainable partnership with key sectors of the local community; participate in community dialogues or informal/casual engagements; facilitate and partner over community-empowered socio-economic development projects based on community needs assessments and dialogues; and conduct effective advocacies in support of community peace-building efforts.
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