UP and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) entered into a memorandum of agreement on January 16 for the creation of development programs under a skills camp that will benefit NGCP host communities near UP campuses. This is the NGCP’s first collaboration with an educational institution for its livelihood projects.
According to NGCP Corporate Initiatives and Advocacies Chief Lida May Lopez, the pilot project will be implemented this year in seven NGCP host communities near UP Los Baños, UP Visayas (Miagao and Tacloban), and UP Mindanao. She added that these communities consist of 250 households or 1,000 individuals.
UP President Alfredo Pascual and NGCP President and CEOP Henry Sy Jr. both referred to the agreement as an expansion of the institutions’ partnership. A memorandum of understanding had been signed by the parties in 2014 to further develop the power sector through research and development, capacity-building programs, and technical training and exchange.
“This [MOA] widens the reach of our development efforts as we go down to the grassroots level and empower our communities,” said Pascual. “As UP is mandated to lead and serve as a public service university, this agreement is a welcome opportunity for us to work with NGCP in the delivery of meaningful and relevant development programs to its host communities.”
Sy, on the other hand, remarked that the latest collaboration was “more than just developing the skills of the people within NGCP and UP’s inner circles. . . [it is] helping people beyond those inner circles, particularly in our host communities.”
The project will also involve local government units through their Public Employment Services Office (PESO). The role of the local PESO is threefold: to help identify needs in the labor market during the project’s scoping and needs assessment phase; to match trained beneficiaries with potential employers; and to serve as conduit for possible applications to livelihood programs for young people funded by the Department of Labor and Employment. (Arlyn VCD Palisoc Romualdo, UP MPRO)
