by SLP- ERO Noel Villones

DSWD Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) FO8, together with its partners, conducted numerous life skills trainings, one of which was the training for security men and lady guards with employment facilitation for Pantawid Program participants in the whole region.

Partner security institute for the training was Vivien Rechell Von (VRV) Security Training Institute Inc, a multi – awarded and prestigious security institute offering quality services through highly trained and competent instructors. Basic training covered are First Aid, Patrol Technique, Disaster Response, Crowd Control and Ethics. They are also duly registered with TESDA in accordance with the Training Regulation under Philippine Technology Vocational Education Training (PTVET ).
The province of Southern Leyte was the very first ever to conduct the first batch of security training on July 22, 2016 in Maasin City, producing 120 graduates who passed the competency assessment coming from the city of Maasin, municipalities of Malitbog, Padre Burgos and Macrohon. DSWD FOVIII Regional Director, Dir. Restituto B. Macuto inspired the young and fresh graduates of the said training.

According to Project Development Officer (PDO) Maricel Espina, 85% of their graduates were already employed in various local and national business establishments, government agencies, while others were industry partners of VRV. Still others are still waiting for their documents to be processed, but with guaranteed employers already.

The graduation exercises for the second batch of graduates under Class Makisig was concluded on November 16, 2106 at the Hinunangan Municipal Gym. There were 98 security men and lady guards, all Pantawid beneficiaries coming from nine municipalities of Southern Leyte namely Anahawan, Bontoc, Hinunangan, Hinundayan, Libagon, San Juan, Silago, Sogod and Tomas Oppus.

Gracing the affair were VRV President & CEO Revina Sangcopan, DSWD SLP Provincial Coordinator Charita Alapag, and External Relations Officer Noel Villones, Municipal Social Welfare Development Officers of the municipalities covered by the program, and a representative from Hinunangan Local Gov’t Unit and police department.

The successful trainees will soon be taking a competency assessment examination to be conducted by the Firearms Explosives Security Guards Supervision (FESAGS), as one of the eligibility requirements for their employment. Expected timelines for their employment will be on December 2016 and early of 2017.
On the other aspect, to really know the importance of this security training and its impact on trainees and their parents, random interviews were conducted by the writer. Their responses revealed that Pantawid beneficiaries opted to avail of this training with the belief that they can land  decent job as security men and lady guards, thus, they are able to pursue their education on their chosen career and help defray expenses of their immediate families. For the side of the parents, this training is one of the ways to help their children acquire knowledge and skills free of charge and help them to answer expenses of the family.

In the long run, it was suggested by the parents and the trainees that similar trainings be conducted by SLP in other places which needy people like them can avail. ###