MANKAYAN, Benguet – The municipal government is currently preparing for the implementation of the internet-based entrepreneurship program that will equip members of the town’s vulnerable sectors with the necessary skills to make them productive right in their homes.
Mayor Fernzel Ayong said that the local government already coordinated with the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMC) and the Far Southeast Gold Resources Inc. to delineate the duties and responsibilities of the concerned stakeholders to ensure the smooth roll out of the program in the coming weeks.
He added that the local government will be identifying the trainers from the concerned sectors who will be first trained on the internet-based entrepreneurship program so that they will be the ones to cascade the same to the indemnified members of the vulnerable sectors who will be the initial target beneficiaries for them to be able to earn the necessary income for their families.
“We hope that we will be able to roll out the program so that the members of the vulnerable sectors in the different barangays will be equipped with the skills that they could use to earn income that will help in uplifting the living condition of their families,” Mayor Ayong stressed.
The local chief executive expressed his gratitude to the two mining companies operating in the municipality for allowing portions of their Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) fund to be used for the provision of the needed equipment and materials for the realization of the entrepreneurship program.
According to him, LCMC will purchase some 15 desk top computers, 15 laptop computers and help in training the trainers of the program while FSGRI will be involved in gathering the data on the vulnerable sectors of the municipality to update whatever available data in the local government to ascertain the prioritization of those who will undergo the training until they will be able to independently work and earn income for their families.
Ayong said that the local government will providing the training center for the trainees aside from making available prospective trainees who will eventually become trainers who will be deployed in the different barangays to provide the skills training to individuals who cannot avail of the training in the established training center because of disability but could still be productive in their homes.
Mayor Ayong disclosed that the local government’s internet-based entrepreneurship program is in partnership with the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) but the module that was crafted for the purpose was revised to tailor fit with the prevailing situation in the municipality considering the town’s peculiar situation among other intervening factors.
He appealed to the interested members of the town’s vulnerable sectors to signify their intention to undergo the trainings with their barangay officials and the local government so that their status will be assessed to ascertain their needs in terms of the training for the reference of the trainers who will be providing them with the said skills.
By HENT