DAVAO CITY, 17 October — Returning overseas contract workers can look forward to a brighter future at home by availing themselves of a "retooling" program, the government has said.
A government-private sector initiative, the program is meant to teach OFWs become new entrepreneurs, "free of charge."
The training program is to be handled by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), which was established in 1994 primarily to help create teach Filipino youth to become "world-class workers."
Tesda Director General Lucy Lazo said they are ready to assist returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who may be displaced as an offshoot of a global economic recession in the aftermath of the US war against "terrorists."
These trying times, Lazo pointed the importance for the Philippines to seek alternative markets abroad. She said, "we should aggressively cultivate fully our domestic market."
Lazo stressed that the incident in the United States has given the country a costly lesson that it should not be "too dependent on exports because it is not very good all the time."
Lazo said Tesda can provide trainings to individuals from two weeks to six months.
She also noted that there are other agencies and private groups helping OFWS learn and establish livelihood programs of their own.
Among these is the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), which deals with small- and medium-scale business opportunities.
