NORTH and South Cotabato will soon have their own Technical Education and Skills Development Authority training centers.

TESDA chief Isidro Lapeña recently personally spearheaded the groundbreaking ceremony for the two facilities.

Lapeña and TESDA Deputy Director General for Operations Lina Sarmiento, TESDA Region XII Director Rafael Abrogar, and Mayor Antonio Bendita led the groundbreaking ceremony for the TESDA Provincial Training Center in Surallah, South Cotabato on Wednesday.

The local government unit donated a 3,000 square-meter property for the construction of the South Cotabato Provincial Training Center.

The following day, the TESDA chief also led a groundbreaking ceremony for the establishment of a TESDA Provincial Training Center in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.

Lapeña thanked the local officials of Surallah and Pigcawayan for providing the lots where each PTC will be constructed.

“We are still about to build the physical facility. However, the people who will be working here, the trainers and administrators, are ready to empower the people of this province,” he said.

Lapeña said that TESDA has been aiming to build a PTC in every province to bring skills training closer to remote communities.

In Pigcawayan, several scholars are being trained in Electrical Installation and Management, Cookery, Agri-crop Production, Contact Tracing, and Bookkeeping while training on Masonry and Carpentry have also started in Surallah. Apart from the free training, the scholars also receive allowances.

The TESDA chief earlier authorized the release of P600,000 to build a four-bay training facility in Pigcawayan.

The local government donated a 10,000 square meter-lot for the construction of the Cotabato Provincial Training Center.

Both training centers are expected to be completed in a year.