ILOILO City – Thousands of residents here have availed themselves of various programs from the Iloilo City Government, such as the “tRAIbaho Ilonggo” and the “Uswag Negosyo Academy” (UNA), empowering them with skills and knowledge for livelihood and job opportunities.
According to Velma Jane Lao, head of the Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion (LEDIP) Office, these transformative programs are aimed at providing not just temporary assistance but a sustainable means of living for the city’s residents.
“Under the collaborative leadership of Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, RISE Iloilo City will continue to level up, bringing the city and its people to greater heights. We will continue to implement these transformative initiatives for the benefit of everyone,” said Lao.
Among the landmark initiatives under the Treñas administration include a livelihood program especially among market vendors dubbed as “Uswag Negosyo Academy” and the skills training program “tRAIbaho Ilonggo” which have benefitted close to 2,000 city residents from various sectors.
UNA, through the LEDIP Office, has partnered with select government agencies and private sector in providing trainings and seminars on work ethics, service quality and digitalization to hundreds of market vendors.
Under the program, 14 batches with a total of 323 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), specifically market vendors, graduated from the training course from April 2023 to November 2024. All of these graduates also received additional business capital totaling to 1.405M through the Iloilo City Government and BDO Foundation.
Meanwhile, under the “tRAIbaho Ilonggo” program, a total of 1,230 individuals including solo parents, unemployed individuals, and out-of-school youth availed themselves of the skills training program.
Of the figure, 30 were trained on Food Processing; 50 on Housekeeping, 25 on Reflexology, 75 on Contact Center Service NC II, 50 on Carpentry NC II, 25 on Tile Setting NC II, 25 on Masonry NC II, 100 on Food Safety Training, 500 on Digitalization Trainings, and 250 on Piso Caravan Training.
The trainings were conducted at or by Technical Institute of Iloilo City (TIIC) Bo. Obrero Campus, TIIC Molo Campus, Philippine Chamber of Commerce Iloilo (PCCI), APEX Skills Development Institute, UP Visayas, Gcash and GO Digital, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Moreover, 80 families of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) were provided with Scholarships by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
Also, 133 ambulant or street vendors were profiled to receive one business cart and bike valued at P30,000 each, totaling to P3,990,000 under the “Negosyo sa Kariton” assistance under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 6 Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP), in partnership with the Iloilo City LEDIP Office and Public Employment Service Office (PESO).
Meantime, 100 sari-sari store owners received P15,000 each worth of goods / stock packages as capital grant from the Office of then Executive Assistant Raisa Treñas-Chu, DOLE Region 6, and Iloilo City’s PESO.
On the other hand, the city government through LEDIP also conducted training and seminars which are co-organized by various government agencies.
These include the following:
* One Productivity Toolbox Training for 50 food industry stakeholders co-organized with Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)
* 148 MSMEs including sari-sari store owners, solo parents, and ambulant vendors underwent business resiliency-related training through the conduct of Business Resiliency Assistance for Crises and Emergencies (BRACE) Program with the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office
* More than 700 MSMEs composed of market vendors, sari-sari store owners, solo parents, 700 and ambulant vendors underwent digitalization training with The Asia Foundation
* 200 MSMEs underwent Digitalization training, including sari-sari store owners and market 200 vendors, co-organized with GCash
* More than 100 MSMEs, particularly market vendors, sari-sari store owners, and street vendors participated the PISO Caravan, which covered topics on BSP Clean Note, Coin Policy, Digital Payments among others with Bankers Association of Iloilo (BAI) and 28 Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
* 17 MSMEs underwent Packaging and Labelling session to enhance product packaging and labeling co-organized with DOST Region 6
* 28 Iloilo Fishing Port vendors underwent trainings on: Food Safety and Handling, Digitalization in Business, and 7s of Good Housekeeping, and
* 25 food establishments trained under the Department of Tourism’s Filipino Brand of Service and Kulinarya Workshop to enhance customer service and food handling.
“Like the Chinese proverb ‘Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime’, we are investing in our people’s skills and knowledge to provide them with long-term opportunities to excel in their livelihoods or jobs,” Lao emphasized./PN
