With thousands of jobs already lost and major Filipino industries on the ropes, the Arroyo administration has announced plans to allocate P5.66 billion in a massive skills training and technical education program to help more than 800,000 workers find higher paying jobs and better employment opportunities this year.

Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) said government has already commenced efforts to train some 809,800 unskilled Filipino workers for jobs as call center agents, welders, electricians, machine operators, massage therapists, mechanics and clerks through the Pangulong Gloria Scholarships Program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

“The on-going program is undertaken by TESDA under the leadership of Secretary Augusto Syjuco, and is in line with the basic objectives of President Arroyo’s Economic Resiliency Plan and our poverty reduction policies,” Panganiban said.

NAPC, which is under the Office of the President, is the lead coordinating and monitoring agency for the government’s anti-poverty programs.

Panganiban said that if government’s plans push through, the budget allocation for the Pangulong Gloria Scholarships will be used to finance nine national programs.

He said 400,000 Filipinos will benefit from TESDA’s free assessment services while 282,000 more workers will be trained through TESDA regional and provincial offices. “Another 45,000 beneficiaries will undergo instruction through the network of TESDA Technology Institutions,” Panganiban said.

The NAPC chief said TESDA will train an additional 20,000 workers through its partner industry associations and sectoral groups; and 10,000 more Filipinos will be trained through the Ladderized Education Program.

“Beyond this, we aim to train 2,000 workers under TESDA’s Balik-Buhay sa Mindanao Program even as we provide instruction to some 10,000 Filipinos under the ‘Sa TESDA May Hanapbuhay Ka’ Program this year,” he said.

He said government expects to train another 20,800 workers through the National Technical Vocational Education and Training Program (TVET). “Meanwhile, around 20,000 students will be schooled and trained through the Language Skills Institute,” Panganiban said.