19 March 2021
Taguig City - Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Isidro Lapeña expressed his commitment to continue empowering far-flung areas in the country by teaching its residents how to use solar power to light up their own homes.
Lapeña led the awarding of Certificates of Scholarship Commitment to the six priority barangays in Northern Samar under the Barangay Development Program (BDP).
“Mayroon kaming kasama sa scholarship certificates. These are the solar panels. These will be installed sa mga barangays na wala pang kuryente,” Lapeña said during the joint
meeting of the Joint National Task Force - Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict Eastern Visayas (NTF-RTF-ELCAC VIII) in Tacloban City, Leyte on March 18, which was also attended by President Rodrigo Duterte.
TESDA is also set to provide skills training and scholarship to 1,768 individuals in Eastern Visayas who receive Certificates of Land Ownership (CLOA). The CLOA was given by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
Earlier, Lapeña said that the CLOA beneficiaries should be made a priority in TESDA’s scholarship allocation.
“Simple lang ang directive ng ating Pangulo, matapos maibigay ang lupa, ang TESDA naman ang magbibigay ng training para masigurong maging productive ang lupang ipinagkaloob sa kanila,” he had said.
President Duterte, in his speech, vowed to distribute more lands to former rebels but warned them not to sell the piece of land they will be getting from the government.
“Kami ang makabigay ng lupa sa inyo, legal. Maipasa na ninyo sa inyong mga anak. May lupa sila. Maliit ang mundo ngayon. Maski na lang may dalawa, tatlong ektarya ka, you should thank God that you have a piece --- a piece of land under the sun. Ang iba nga wala. Ito, bigay na sa inyo,” the President said.
As the lead agency of the Poverty Reduction and Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) of NTF-ELCAC, TESDA has been going to far-flung communities in the country to empower its residents through livelihood and other skills training.
Recently, members of TESDA Region XII, together with the local government unit of Sultan Kudarat and the 37th Infantry Battalion visited Sitio Blanga in Barangay Nalilidan, Kalamansig to assess what is needed and the problems there.
According to its assessment, it said that the community lacks access to electricity and needs a solar dryer. It also lacks in school supplies and livelihood due to its geographical location.
With this, TESDA-Region XII is set to bring there its two projects namely “Project IPEACE” or the Indigenous People Empowered Agripreneurs Towards a Collective End and “Project Tala” or TESDA Alay ay Liwanag at Asenso which aim to provide livelihood trainings to indigenous people (IP) communities.###
Share this page
