GUIGUINTO, Bulacan – Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general Sec. Guiling “Gene” Mamondiong will conduct visits on all their training centers in a bid to warn the public of scams and from transacting business with fixers in their agency.
The TESDA boss made the warning during the regional technical vocational education and training (TVET) stakeholders conference held at the TESDA training center in Bgy. Tabang here on Friday.
Mamondiong told participants he will be making rounds on their 120 training centers throughout the country to warn their officials on the reports of fixers facilitating the acceptance of TESDA applicants which he said is illicit.
Mamondiong abhors the scam which he said is not only duping Filipinos who wants to have decent jobs but is also putting Tesda in a bad light.
The secretary said he received a text message from Mindanao that a fixer has victimized a regional director by name-dropping Mamondiong’s name and that the fixer demanded P10,000 for facilitating TESDA applicants.
Upon receiving the report, Mamondiong said he has given directives to all their regional and provincial directors that he has not authorized any one to act in his behalf in accepting any TESDA applicants.
Mamondiong said a TESDA scholar receives free tuition fee and transportation allowance and will be issued a national certificate once the course has been completed that can be used by the graduate from applying for a local or international job,.
Currently, there are 830,000 individuals from all over the country that have applied for a TESDA scholarship for around 18,000 technical and vocational courses, Mamondiong added that on the average for each course cost P7,500.00.
The TESDA boss also disclosed TESDA has also procured P600 million worth of equipment for its training purposes to be used in all of its regional training centers in the country and that they are now pushing to have dormitories for their trainees in all of these centers.
Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado hailed the renewed initiatives and programs of TESDA in providing opportunities for Bulakenyos to live decent lives. —EMIL G. GAMOS