WBA prepares for Dive and PCRA training with ZSCMST

 

Photo: IAG, MILAB and ZSCMST officials posing for a group photo after a meeting on their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) through capacity building and technical assistance interventions. (L to R) ZSCMST Dive Center Manager Prof Raymond Lim, IAG Director for Planning Sheila Algabre, MILAB Project Coordinator Sheila Acquiatan, IAG Executive Director Atty Benedicto Bacani, ZSCMST President Dr Jaime Jalon, ZSCMST Vice President Dr Servando Halili Jr, MILAB Project Manager Noor Saada and ZSCMST Dean of the College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Dr Oliver Tito. 

Isabela City, Basilan (November 17, 2021) – The Western Basilan Alliance (WBA) composed of the municipalities of Hadji Muhtamad, Lantawan, Maluso, and Sumisip, and supported by the Basilan Provincial Government, is scheduled to undertake a 7-day dive training and 3-day training on participatory coastal resources assessment (PCRA), from November 23 to December 3, 2021, in Zamboanga City.

These two trainings will be delivered by a composite team of marine science experts from the Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST). This was made possible through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by ZSCMST and the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG). IAG is the managing contractor for the AECID-funded Modelling Inter-LGU Alliance in Basilan (MILAB) that is capacitating and supporting the WBA.

Atty Benedicto Bacani, Executive Director of IAG and the managing contractor of the AECID-funded MILAB Project, is happy to see this partnership slowly moving forward. IAG has built a reputation around local governance and alliance building, and with ZSCMST expertise in coastal resources management (CRM), he expects exponential benefits for the WBA. He is optimistic that the institutional commitment and resources of IAG and ZSCMST reflected in the memorandum of understanding will help WBA realize its vision of a peaceful and prosperous Western Basilan founded on good governance and a sustainable economy.

MILAB manager Mr Noor Saada explains that diving is a foundational skill for participatory coastal resources assessment and PCRA is a preparatory mechanism to develop CRM plan required of every LGU in the country. He added that the 11-person ZSCMST team will be a composite of professors and professional divers and the two trainings will be a combination of lectures, confined water, and open water skills development, and fieldwork on socio-economic, mangroves, seagrass, coral and reef fishes, and water quality and plankton assessment drills. Participants will also undergo assessment and certification by CMAS Philippines as basic divers. The fieldwork is slated to be undertaken inside an ancestral domain area of Sama Bangingi' who have been preserving and promoting their area as an eco- and culture-based tourist spot.

WBA is the first inter-LGU cooperation in Basilan Province and is being capacitated by the Spanish aid agency AECID-funded MILAB 2 Project, implemented by the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) in partnership with the provincial and selected municipal governments.