Philippine Daily Inquirer
ALCALA, Pangasinan – This central Pangasinan town is producing as many welders as it can to wipe out unemployment by filling up a new overseas demand for the trade.
“We have trained around 500 welders, most of whom have found employment abroad, in shipping yards in the country, in construction companies, or have put up their own welding shops,” Mayor Manuel Collado says.
The project started two years ago, supposedly for tricycle drivers whose numbers have shot up. Turning them into welders was meant to reduce the number of tricycle drivers in the town.
Unfortunately, most of the drivers who enrolled in the welding class dropped out, “so we just opened the training to anybody who was interested,” Collado says.
The project was launched in cooperation with the Luciano Millan Memorial School College of Arts and Trades in Asingan town, which provided the instructors; and the Department of Labor and Employment, which provided the welding equipment.
“Many jobless residents who trained have found employment, [to the consternation of] their drinking buddies, who wondered why they were no longer around [for beers] anymore. When their friends learned about the training, they also enrolled in the training class,” Collado says.
But it is not only the jobless residents who benefit from the training. There are professionals who shift careers, such as a retired military colonel who underwent training and found employment in Australia.
Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon
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