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A
COLLABORATION of international and local entities is
expected to uplift the lives of many poor Filipinos,
especially those in Northern Samar, where a major
auto-mechanic training center will be built and funded
by Isuzu Motors Ltd. this year.
As part
of its “Isuzu Heart and Smile Project,” which is at the
forefront of its social contribution activities
worldwide, Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Japan embarked on a
five-year project “that will see the construction of a
multimillion-peso training center which will give
underprivileged youth the chance to gain skills and even
produce top-class automotive technicians.”
Isuzu
Motors Ltd.’s Tomoko Umeda, HR and General Affairs
Department manager, disclosed during the press launch of
the project last week at the Rizal Ballroom of
Shangri-La Makati that a total of $3 million (or more
than P120 million) will be donated by Isuzu to finance
the construction of a dormitory and workplace for
trainees, as well as their living and educational
expenses during their stay.
Aside
from this, Isuzu will also “provide expertise in
automotive and manufacturing business to ensure that the
project is successfully implemented,” according to Umeda.
“ It will also assess the technical competence of the
proposed curricula, improving the course design and make
periodic assessment and evaluation of the competence and
appropriateness of the delivery of the course program.”
Umeda
mentioned that as “one of the major activities of Isuzu,
‘Heart and Smile Project,’ and the marking of our 70th
anniversary, we have been addressing education of
children since education is indispensable to children,
as our future depends on them.”
Isuzu
partnered with Plan International (an international
humanitarian, child-centered development organization
working in 66 countries worldwide, which is represented
locally by Plan Philippines) and Tesda in order to pave
the way for the successful implementation of the
project.
Plan
will spearhead the selection of the new trainees as soon
as the construction of the new facilities inside the
Tesda compound in Tacloban City is finished in June. A
total of 80 poor but deserving young men and women
initially from Northern Samar and Masbate areas shall be
taken in for the first batch that will be housed in the
huge dormitories beside the center. The project target
is to produce about 80 auto mechanics with National
Certification IV (with four semesters of schooling)
every year. All of them shall have the liberty to choose
where to work, since they will all be up for grabs by
companies which are in need of highly skilled mechanics,
not necessarily Isuzu.
“The
project is a testimony to the Filipino people. With
this, young people from some of the most depressed
provinces in the Philippines are given hope for a better
and brighter future. Isuzu and Tesda, as partners of
Plan International in this undertaking, will ensure that
scholars are provided only the best training in
automotive mechanic,” said Michael Diamond, country
director of Plan Philippines who is married to a
Filipina and resides in the
Philippines.
“With
this project, the lives of many poor Filipinos are set
to change. There will be permanent jobs, sustainable
incomes, families’ well-being will be enhanced, their
vulnerability to financial and economic woes will
improve, and children will be well-nourished and sent to
school. And all these would have not been possible
without the hearts and smiles of the great men and women
of Isuzu Motors Ltd.,” Diamond added.
Tesda
deputy director for field operations Roger Peyuan, who
pitched in for Tesda director general Augusto Syjuco
Jr., said the government agency has been at the
forefront of a new era in helping the marginalized but
deserving students. “Many poor students have underwent
career development with Tesda and are now successfully
employed not only here but also abroad.”
Isuzu
Philippines Corp. president Keiji Takeda thanked Tesda
and Plan International “for giving us the chance to do
something for the underprivileged youth of this country.
While it is true that business in the Philippines has
been good for Isuzu, we also can’t overlook the fact
that almost 40 percent of the Filipino population lives
in poverty and that most of the unemployed belong to the
16- to 24-year-old bracket.
“With
this project and with the increase in new-vehicle
demand, we hope to be able to produce a new generation
of competent and world-class automotive technicians to
cope up with the growing market demand for technical
expertise. We also hope to employ the young
beneficiaries of the this program in the near future so
they can join us in providing service excellence to our
valued customers,” said Takeda, who added that “we can
take pride in knowing we’ve played an active role in
providing a much-needed helping hand to the
underprivileged people around us.”
Several
mayors from the South, led by
Northern Samar municipal mayor Erlinda Palloc-Cinco, were on hand
together with a youth representative from Lope de Vega,
Northern Samar Analyn Jumadiao. Also present were Isuzu
Philippines vice president for corporate business
division Art Balmadrid; Kazuo Tsurumi, national director
of Plan Japan; Bureau of Alternative Learning System
director Carol Guerrero; and Plan Philippines program
support manager Dong Wana. |
