LAGAWE, IFUGAO – – A satellite office of the Ifugao Tesda (Technical Education
School Development Authority) will be constructed in Alfonso Lista town in this province to provide services to four towns in the second geographical district. It will be constructed on a land donated by the town in Barangay Sta. Maria, Diosdado Escalante, director of the Ifugao Tesda office, told the ZigZag Weekly.
The planned Tesda satellite office is seen by the municipal government as crucial for success in upgrading the skills of the young. However, Esclante stressed, such would be just the beginning, attainment of the goal would be still too far. So he is cautious, amid the excitement, and doesn’t want to proceed haphazardly.
The project will affect the district’s socio-economic order. Alfonso Lista, the biggest town in terms of population, accounts for a significant percent of the economy of the province, and it will be the pacesetter of technical–vocational education training in the second district. Now, it is largely a farming town whose main produce include corn, rice, vegetables and fruits. It is the major dragon fruit producer.
The other towns in the district are Aguinaldo, Banaue and Mayoyao. The Ifugao Tesda office is presently located at Barangay North in the capital town of Lagawe. Few efforts were done by past government officials to bring it closer to the folks of Alfonso Lista, Aguinaldo, Banaue and Mayoyao.
Traveling there is difficult and quite costly. One can only imagine the burden of going there during the rainy season. The recent restrictions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak only made things worse.
The Alfonso Lista municipal government, led by Mayor Edralin Alipio, strongly supports and is doing everything to fast-track the project. Not to be out done, the Sanggunian Bayan reportedly also threw its full and unqualified support. It is composed of Councilors Carl Marx Aliguyon, Rex Aniceto, Virginia Dinagtuan, Jaime Dog-e, Dioney Macadangdang, Noel Prudenciano, William Taganas, Herman Tuguinay, SK president Manny Omela and ABC president Billy Gonsadan.
Vice Mayor Agapito Dominguez Jr. also fully backs the project. “With the goal of assisting the national government achieve its development goals, the local government of Alfonso Lista has been and will continue to lend its hand to the Tesda,” he said.
As envisioned, young folks of the town’s 20 villages will be given access to economic opportunities through job creation and entrepreneurship after undergoing skills training programs offered by the Tesda.
The optimism of many in the private sector of the town remains firm the project will propel the town’s growth and development in the coming years.
As to the courses to be offered, there should be no duplication of those offered by Tesda in Lagawe, Escalante mused. While the courses on vulcanizing, welding and driving have been highly successful there, it does not mean that these should be offered also in Alfonso Lista. So the question remains on what courses shall be made available..
Escalante said that the project was due to the unwavering support of Ifugao Rep. Solomon Chungalao who look at Tesda as a way to improving the conditions of the youth. Thus he has been advancing Tesda’s cause at the House of Representatives. As he said in a gathering of educators, education is a “way out of poverty.”**** By Anthony A. Araos
