August 26, 2010, 4:11pm
A female metal welder and a college drop-out who now has his own food business are some of the 12 vocational-technical course graduates recognized by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) during its 16th anniversary celebration held last Wednesday at the TESDA Women’s Center, Taguig City.
Now in its second year, the annual TESDA Idols 2010 award recognizes the achievements of TESDA’s former students who have excelled in their chosen fields and served as an inspiration to its other trainees.
“This is a day not only of celebration, but also of recognition. These Idols have demonstrated high work productivity, maturity, adaptability and flexibility in the work place. They exemplified the values of integrity, propriety and commitment in community building,” TESDA director Emmanuel Villanueva said.
Aside from Villanueva, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. also attended the event to give the keynote message honoring the recipients of the TESDA Idols 2010 and the Kabalikat Awards 2010.
“Today the bias against blue-collar work in our country is one of the biggest reasons for the skills mismatching that has contributed to our growing unemployment rate. Voc-tech (vocational-technical) education also represents an alternative to college education that is increasingly becoming out of reach to a majority of our people,” Ochoa said.
“The reality is that abroad the demand for skilled technical workers outpaces that for a four-year degree course,” he said.
The 12 award recipients of TESDA Idols 2010 include: Jalel Maximo and Delfin Ceralvo for their automotive repair shop; Arnel Balanay for his catering business; Rodolfo Espino Jr. for his cell phone repair; Geraldine dela Rosa for being one of the most successful lady welders of TESDA; Alejandro Duran Jr. for his banana fritter business; Antonio Calzada for his electrical supply and general merchandise shop; Danilo Adlaon, now an electrical engineering professor; Glendelle Bagabag for his computer maintenance business; Renante Cobcobo for his beauty salon business; Gaspar Rodriguez for his fabrication and refrigeration center.
Meanwhile, a separate award, the Kabalikat Awards 2010, was given to local government units (LGU) and private companies, which became TESDA’s partner in advocating vocational-technical training.
The recipients of the Kabalikat Awards 2010 in the LGU category include the following: the 2nd Congressional District of Cagayan; 3rd Congressional District of Tarlac; 2nd Congressional District of Quezon; Municipal Government of Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro; City Government of Tabacco, Albay; Municipal Government of Laua-an, Antique; Provincial Government of Davao Oriental; the City government of Tandag, Surigao del Sur; City Government of Quezon City.
The Provincial Integrated Skills Training Center in Region 7 and the XiJen College of Mt. Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region also received the Kabalikat Award in the institutional category.
The Punta Riviera Resort, Energy Development Corporation-Leyte Geothermal Production Field, RD Corporation, and the Filipino Hairdressers Cooperative were given the award in the industry category.
The two awards are given during TESDA’s week-long 16th anniversary.
Winners from both awards were given a plaque and a certificate of recognition together with other prices.
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