TESDA launches 3rd batch of Project Silaw in Kapangan Benguet

LOAKAN- The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority-Benguet and the members of the Provincial Poverty Reduction, Livelihood, and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) launched the 3rd batch of Project SILAW ( Solar installation Among Locals to advance their Welfare) in Sitio Toplac, Barangay Pudong, Kapangan, Benguet on August 28, Friday.

The project SILAW is set for implementation in the four barangays of Benguet - Ibarangat-Lusod, Kabayan; Sito Anjafat, Ambongdolan, Tublay ; Bedeo, Kibungan, and Sitio Toplac Kapangan. These barangays are identified by the Provincial Task Force-Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PTF-PRLEC), considered as Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) and belonging to the 4th class and 5th class municipalities of Benguet.

Energizing the remote communities of Benguet is the primary vision of Project SILAW. Recently, skills training program in Solar Installation under the Community-Based Training (CBT) Program in the identified barangays in Kabayan and Tublay have successfully commenced and soon be launched in Badeo, Kibungan, Benguet.

TESDA Benguet convened the beneficiaries of the project and its partners on August 28, 2020, to officially welcome and orient the participants regarding the details and opportunities that the project can bring to the community. The event was warmly received despite the remote distances among the houses in the area. The presence of the representative of the Office of the Governor, TESDA CAR RD Manuel Wong, Mayor Manny E. Fermin, TESDA Benguet Provincial Director Vilma C. Cabrera, and the representatives from the Provincial PRLEC edified the vision of project SILAW and made a strong commitment in making a brighter and empowered family which the project seeks to attain and promote.

The skills training program is expected to begin in the first week of September which will last up to 8 days and upon conclusion, the representatives from different agencies committed that they will have an ocular visit to the installed solar panels to ensure the quality of material, its durability and its usability for a longer period of time.

RD Wong thanked the partners of the project and said that “We are glad to launch the third batch of Project SILAW which aims to provide electricity, skills training, and livelihood to the community through solar panel installation and we hope the community’s lives will be elevated through this project. We expect everyone’s cooperation on the solar installation to be successful and we will continue supporting you. Our government is doing its best to help you that’s why we’re here today. We hope that this will not end with the solar installation. Instead, a continuous livelihood is not only limited to our 15 beneficiaries but for the whole community.”