Sixty-four volunteers completed the six-week Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) Active Auxiliary (CAA) basic military training to support the anti-insurgency operations of the Philippine Army in Negros Island.

The civilian volunteers assigned to the patrol bases of various line battalions attended the closing ceremony at the headquarters of the 62nd Infantry Battalion in Negros Occidental’s Isabela town yesterday.

Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity chief, Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. was represented by Christina Loren Umali, director of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) and Cordillera Bodong Administration-Cordillera People’s Liberation Army Concerns Office.

In his message read by Umali, Galvez commended the civilian volunteers for further improving their standards of living.

“It is worth noting that this program is a product of the collaborative efforts between the government of the Philippines and the Kapatiran. It is our common goal to ensure that all the commitments made under the peace agreements are delivered to you, your families, and the communities,” he added.

Kapatiran became the institutional name of RPA-ABB after it entered into a peace agreement with the national government.

Lt. Colonel Erwin Cariño, commandant of the 3rd Infantry Division Training School, said they train qualified volunteer reservists and civilian volunteers to become members of the CAA.

“It is also our objective to instill courtesy, discipline and respect for human rights and proper values as citizen soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and develop a physically fit and people-oriented CAA for internal peace and security operations,” he said. (PNA)