Iloilo town chosen for ILO pilot project

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Tubungan, Iloilo was chosen as the site for the pilot implementation of a project by the International Labor Organization (ILO) on an area-based lifelong learning model and best practices.

The ILO’s Skills for Prosperity (ILO-SfP) program is currently capacitating 25 residents who are considered Out-of-School Youth (OSY) and Adult (OSA) and indigenous peoples (IP) sectors of the town, particularly those in the Alternative Learning System (ALS), who are into Processed Food by Dehydration in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

TESDA-certified trainers from Leon Ganzon Polytechnic College in Balasan town will lead the 10-day training.

TESDA-Western Visayas officer-in-charge Esther Babalo said that in line with the TESDA’s current programs, the individuals being trained are also receiving ₱160 allowance on training days in addition to the regular training materials.

With funding from the United Kingdom government, the project hopes that the 25 participants would be awarded Food Processing National Competency II (NC II) certification to enhance their skills and employability.

Aside from capacity-building, the project will also seek the institutionalization of a multi-sectoral coordination mechanism, access to government services, co-financing, and “champion” branding.

Katherine Brimon, ILO-SfP Philippines’ senior project officer, said that they aim to illustrate how the delivery of programs like ALS and the Technical and Vocation Education Training (TVET) system can influence skills and employment development.

Brimon noted that Tubungan, a fourth-class municipality in southern Iloilo, may have the potential for economic growth, but has been marred by poverty and lack of economic activity.

She also cited the desire of the beneficiaries to stay in Tubungan for economic opportunities even after the end of the program.

“Among vulnerable and marginalized groups in the country, individuals coming from indigenous peoples are considered to be vulnerable in the labor market. The pilot is actually demonstrating that when we work together towards a certain vision, in this case, employability, you are trying to remove them from that situation of vulnerability,” Brimon said.

The town government’s project manager, Dr. Joyce Wendam, said that as pilot implementer, the bigger challenge is how this would be replicated in other parts of the country.

“We have to show that this project will be a model to be replicated by all other regions in the Philippines. With the cooperation and collaboration of the partner agencies, and the private sector we hope this project will succeed,” Wendam said.

This project with the ILO-SfP is in addition to existing programs created by the Tubungan municipal government in response to the economic crisis arising from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which are also done in partnership with national government agencies and non-government organizations.

These projects are the Delivery of Assistance towards Literacy On New Techniques and Approaches (DAL-ON TA), the Tubong-Tubong Project, and the Project Bringing Initiatives and Noble services to Households and Individuals for Support and Action in (BINHI SA) Barangay.

Tubungan Vice Mayor Leo Cezar Taypen said that ordinances are also being pushed to institutionalize these projects, citing that those for Tubong-Tubong and BINHI SA Barangay have already passed the second reading.