BAGUIO CITY -– The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) office in Cordillera is now listing down potential trainees from areas hit by Typhoon Ompong, especially those from the landslide-stricken Itogon town in Benguet province, for various skills.
TESDA-Cordillera Acting Regional Director Manuel Wong said on Friday the ongoing registration is for the schedule of trainings to be set soon.
The training is targeted to be launched this October.
The registration for the training had started earlier at the evacuation center in Itogon, as part of the government’s efforts to aid the victims.
Wong said a meeting has been set among the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Cordillera, the TESDA in Benguet, and the Itogon municipal government on Oct. 8, to verify and complete the list of registrants.
In his report to the TESDA central office, Wong said 86 men and 33 women had registered for free skills training or retooling at the TESDA registration desk set up at Alejo Pacalso National High School in Itogon, Benguet on Sept. 21.
Wong said the training of the 119 registrants will be divided into two batches, according to their qualifications.
So far, those who registered for a training in Welding were 44; Driving – 33; Automotive – 26; Cooking/Cookery – 13; Housekeeping and Carpentry – 10; Beauty Care – 8; Baking/Bread and Pastry – 7; and Manicure and Pedicure – 5.
Slaughtering, Pastry Making, Massage Therapy, Masonry, Electrical Installation and Maintenance, had three registrants each.
Machining, Caregiving, and Backhoe Operator had two each, and one each for Wheel Loader, Haircutting, Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), Food Servicing, Electronic Servicing, Electronics, Culinary Arts, Computer System Servicing, Bookkeeping, and Automotive Servicing.
Completion of the training will make the trainees eligible to undergo an assessment, which will entitle them to a National Certification (NC) I or II.
Wong said the skills training program will be done with the support of the Itogon municipal government.
TESDA-Benguet provincial officer David Bungallon said the training programs with the most number of registrants were welding, driving, and automotive.
Bungallon said those who will complete the training and get a certification will be referred to different employers in Baguio City and Benguet for employment.
Scores of people, mostly small-scale miners, contractual laborers, and family breadwinners, died in a massive landslide in a mining site in Itogon at the height of “Ompong” in mid-September.
Hundreds of survivors were rendered jobless and forced to flee their homes, as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources declared their mountainous villages danger zones because of the incessant rains. (Merriam del Rosario/ PNA)
