Regional III: Big Winner at National Skills Competition

Region III (Central Luzon) emerged as this year’s overall champion gathering the most number of golds at the recently-concluded Philippine National Skills Competition (PNSC).Technical vocational (tech-voc) graduates and trainees from the region bagged 10 of the 16 golds that were up for grabs from the trade areas where they competed.

The gold medalists of each trade area earned the opportunity to compete and represent the Philippines at the ASEAN Skills Competition (ASC) in Vietnam in October. The PNSC is the highest level of skills competition in the country organized by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

“The Philippines’ participation at the ASEAN Skills Competition in the past years has afforded our delegates an opportunity to challenge themselves and hone, not just their skills, but qualities such as teamwork, creativity, and discipline,” Secretary Joel Villanueva, TESDA Director General, said.

Aside from bagging 10 gold medals, Region III competitors also got silver and bronze awards, and diplomas of excellence in the different trade areas. Region IV-A and National Capital Region (NCR) came in second and third, respectively, as the regions with the most number of gold medals.

The national organizing committee of the PNSC will meet at the end of the month to assess the overall results and determine the composition of the delegation to the ASC, according to TESDA deputy director general Teodoro Pascua.

“Once we have determined the composition, training of delegates would likely begin in May until October,” Pascua said, adding that some sessions for the training would be held in Metro Manila or at the delegates’ respective regions.

Since some of the delegates who will participate at the ASC are already working, Villanueva appealed to their respective employers to extend the needed support to boost the morale of the competitors, and their chances of winning the gold.

The training for the ASEAN competition would make them incur absences at work, and would entail additional expenses, Villanueva said.

In 2012, Pascua noted that some employers even gave financial support to the competitors.

“Our delegates will not only bring honor and prestige to the country, but to their respective companies, as well, so we should give them full backing,” Villanueva said.