31 December 2012
With its training cum production program, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is helping Mindanao communities ravaged by typhoon "Pablo" (international name: Bopha) become victims to builders.
Secretary Joel Villanueva , TESDA Director General, announced that typhoon victims will be given training in construction-related skills such as carpentry, masonry, electrical installation and plumbing to make them capable of rebuilding their homes damaged by the typhoon.
“We will provide the tools, supplies and materials to give the victims new skills that they can immediately use in building temporary shelters and building relocation shelters and row houses once the relocation sites have been identified by the LGUs with the assistance of the proper national agencies. This will help their communities start anew,” he said.
Villanueva said they started mobilizing their schools and training centers in the Davao and CARAGA regions for the training.
The initiative is under the Cash for Training Program (C4TP) of TESDA and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that uses the train-and-build strategy.
Under this, TESDA will provide training, tools and supplies to the typhoon victims who will undergo the training. Immediately after, they are expected to put into practical application their learning on construction-related work.
Typhoon "Pablo," which killed over a thousand people, hit hard the provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental and Surigao del Sur.
Many families in the areas continue to feel the aftereffects of the typhoon, and are in need of supplies and safer shelters.
“What’s good about this program is we engage the people to be the lead actors in rebuilding their homes and their communities,” Villanueva said.
“The training will not only equip them with the constructions skills, but will boost their morale knowing that they have a role in the rehabilitation efforts, and not merely recipients of government aid,” he added.
TESDA regional directors in the affected areas will directly coordinate with their counterpart in the DSWD for the list of beneficiaries in the worst-hit areas, and recruit the training participants.
TESDA and DSWD partnered to implement the C4TP to assist disadvantaged youth by giving them training, a little cash and helping them to find work. The program will run from December to May 2013.
Aside from the TESDA training centers, other schools and centers in Mindanao will also be tapped to assist on the conduct of the program.
Thirty graduates pose with the model house they constructed after finishing the Cash for Training Program (C4TP) of TESDA and DSWD. The graduates were from Compostela Valley, one of the provinces hardest hit by the typhoon. With them is Compostela Valley Mayor Jessie Bolo (third from right).
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