The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) XI partnered with other agencies to provide livelihood training, particularly to indigenous peoples and former rebels.
“The IP communities are vulnerable groups so on our part, we have to present a preventive program. If we don’t help them, they will even become more vulnerable,” Tesda XI regional director Lorenzo Macapili said.
The initiative is anchored on Executive Order No. 70, known as Institutionalizing the Whole-Of-Nation Approach In Attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace, Creating A National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, And Directing The Adoption of a National Peace Framework.
According to Macapili, the various agencies will provide beneficiaries with the necessary skills and competencies essential for their source of living through wage or self-employment.
The Regional Poverty Reduction and Livelihood and Employment Cluster, chaired by the regional director of Department of Agriculture, will come up with an action plan at the regional level that will be cascaded to the provinces. The members of the cluster include the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor and Employment, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
“This action plan will be based on the peculiarities of the provinces, so it would not mean that all of the programs will be skills training that Tesda specializes. We will anchor all our programs on the needs of the affected communities,” Macapili said.
However, they still haven’t identified the type of skills and competencies needed by the beneficiaries.
“After a series of meeting, we will be coming up with what programs will we prioritize in the region,” he said.
The Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines will provide financial capital for the graduates to start their own business.
