Iloilo City PDLs get livelihood training

The Iloilo City Government through the Technical Institute of Iloilo City (TIIC) has again brought its Livelihood and Skills Training Program inside the jail facility to train Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs).

This time, 25 female PDLs from the Iloilo City District Jail-Female Dormitory went through a 4-day Jail Pantry Training 2.0 within the facility.

The training is designed to provide each trainee with knowledge and/or skills in cooking and/or baking; kitchen sanitation; use of kitchen tools and equipment; and entrepreneurship.

According to TIIC Administrator Maria Mathilde Treñas, who is also Mayor Jerry P. Treñas’ Special Assistant, various sectors extended a helping hand to realize this livelihood project.

For one, the Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation (PFMC) provided the ingredients for the training; while the Department of Trade and Industry-Iloilo was tapped for the financial literacy training.

Aside from certificates, the PDLs also received during their recent graduation kitchen tools and equipment, as well as kiosk, which they can use to start their own business while at the compound.

The tools and equipment were donated by the Iloilo Festival Foundations Inc., through its president, Allan Ryan Tan.

The city government provided two stoves and LPG to the beneficiaries while the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Iloilo under Fulbert Woo also vowed to support by continuously providing the LPG content for their cooking activity.

The Office of the City Mayor will also provide start-up capital to beneficiaries amounting to P125,000 or P5, 000 each.

“We just don’t stop by providing them training; we want their livelihood to be sustainable that’s why we are thankful to our different partners for their help on this project,” Ms. Treñas said.

“Some of them, for the first time, received their very first diploma. We can really see that they are happy, at the same sentimental, because they feel the concern and care of those who joined hand to help them,” she added.

She emphasized that this program is just one of the realizations of the inclusive development agenda of the City Mayor, which ensures that no Ilonggo is left behind. In 2022, the city government, together with government and private partners, also conducted jail pantry training to 30 male PDLs from the male dormitory of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Ungka, Jaro.

They were specifically trained on bread and pastry making, and food processing. The city government also partnered with PFMC that provided all the needed consumables during the training.

They also received certificates upon completion of the training and P300,000 seed capital from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).(GSTayona/Iloilo City PIO)