Cagayan de Oro City – A total of 106 individuals under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program are now equipped with technical skills that could enable them to establish their own businesses or apply for a job here and abroad. This was done by the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).
The SLP recently conducted series of graduation exercises with the support of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and their accredited schools, highlighting the Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries’ completion of various Technical Vocational (TechVoc) Skills Training programs in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental.
The SLP facilitates opportunities for the development and management of resource-based, culturally sensitive, market driven and economically viable micro-enterprises; employment facilitation; community empowerment through skills enhancement trainings; link program participants to micro-insurance providers and promote comprehensive family-based approach and community participation.
In partnership with Iligan Access Institute of Technology, the DSWD facilitated the culmination of six Pantawid beneficiaries who finished Housekeeping NC II and Driving NC II, who took the training program for 42 days and 65 days respectively.
The DSWD, together with the Iligan Multi-Skills Development Incorporated (IMDI), also enabled 50 Pantawid beneficiaries to complete a 30-day Cookery NC II program, of which the graduates received individual starter kits, comprised of basic cooking tools such as burners, cooking pan/pots, ladles and among other materials. The participants of these programs were mostly mothers coming from the municipalities of Linamon, Matungao and Poona Piagapo, Lanao del Norte.
Another 50 beneficiaries graduated from Oroquieta Agricultural Industry School (OAIS), of which 36 program participants are recipient of Automotive Servicing NC II while 14 received Commercial Cooking NC II certification. The participants also received their respective starter kits. Further, the 36 Automotive Servicing NC II graduates received sets of tool box worth P8,500 each, while the other 14 graduates received cooking materials worth P6,000 each.
To date, there are now 108,998 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in Northern Mindanao who are enjoying the benefits of the SLP.
Written by Jamila M. Taha, DSWD