PROCESSED. Mall-goers at SM City avail of processed products offered free by the indigenous peoples Alternative Learning System graduates from the municipality of Tubungan on Tuesday (Aug. 29, 2023). The processed products were the results of the skills training from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority as part of the Skills for Prosperity program piloted by the International Labor Organization in Tubungam. (PNA photo by PGLena)
Cesafinews | ILO program enables Iloilo IPs to earn more by processing agri products | ILOILO CITY – The International Labor Organization (ILO) tested the Skills for Prosperity (S4P) program in the municipality of Tubungan in Iloilo. The program taught 42 graduates of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) how to process food to make more money.
“This is the last part of the ILO Skills for Prosperity (S4P) program in the municipality of Tubungan, where our main recipients are the Alternative Learning System students for indigenous people. Dr. Joyce Wendam, project manager of the ILO-S4P Tubungan, said in an interview on the sidelines of the two-day IP Education Summit and Dal-on Ta Expo held at SM City on Tuesday that the main goal is to give our marginalized groups equal access to income prospects.
The project started on April 25 and will end on August 31 of this year.
The ILO S4P gave food processing equipment to the Tubungan skills center. This equipment is used by the target users to make processed products, especially by dehydrating tomatoes, bananas, and squash, among other foods.
25 of the 42 recipients were given money by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), 6 by the Tubungan Employees Development Cooperative, the Tubungan Teachers Multipurpose Cooperative, and the Iloilo New Agri-Industrial Marketing and General Services, and 11 by the Department of Agriculture for hands-on training in food processing.
During the summit and expo on August 29 and 30, their goods were shown off.
Wendam said that they have already made a plan for the project to continue after the ILO program ends on August 31. This plan includes setting up an executive group to make decisions about how to keep this project going.
“Mayor Roquito G. Tacsagon will put together a team to watch how the project works and see if it really does help IP ALS learners make more money. ILO will leave, but we know that LGU (local government unit) Tubungan will keep it going because we have a plan for its long-term success,” she said.
Junic Borja, the Punong Barangay of Igdampog Norte and one of the winners, said that the training helped them make more money because they now have a ready market for their processed food. Before, food that wasn’t sold at the Tubungan Bagsakan Center was just left to rot.(via PNA)
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