The Skills for Prosperity (S4P) program piloted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in the municipality of Tubungan in Iloilo has trained 42 indigenous peoples (IPs) who are graduates of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) on food processing to augment their income.

“This is the culminating activity of the ILO Skills for Prosperity (S4P) program in the municipality of Tubungan wherein our focus beneficiaries are the indigenous people’s Alternative Learning System learners. The main goal is to enable our marginalized groups to have equitable access to income opportunities,” said Dr. Joyce Wendam, project manager of the ILO-S4P Tubungan, in an interview on the sidelines of the two-day IP Education Summit and Dal-on Ta Expo held at the SM City on Tuesday, Aug. 29.

The technical cooperation project started on April 25 this year and will end Aug. 31.

The ILO S4P provided the Tubungan skills center with food processing equipment used by the target recipients in producing processed products, particularly in food processing by dehydration of tomatoes, bananas and squash, among others.

Of the 42 recipients, 25 were funded by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), six by the Tubungan Employees Development Cooperative, Tubungan Teachers Multipurpose Cooperative, and the Iloilo New Agri-Industrial Marketing and General Services, and 11 by the Department of Agriculture for hand-on training on food processing.

Their products were showcased during the Aug. 29-30 summit and expo.

With the exit of the ILO program on Aug. 31, Wendam said they have already crafted a sustainability plan to include organizing an executive committee to take charge of policymaking to sustain this project.

“A monitoring team will be created by Mayor Roquito G. Tacsagon to monitor the impact of the project and if it really helps in increasing the income of IP ALS learners. ILO will pull out but there is an assurance because we have the sustainability plan that it will be sustained by LGU (local government unit) Tubungan,” she added.

Junic Borja, Punong Barangay of Igdampog Norte and one of the recipients, said the training helped them earn more because they have a ready market for their processed food, unlike before when products that were not catered at the Tubungan Bagsakan Center were just left to rot.Perla Lena/PNA