MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is offering livelihood and skills training program to the public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and operators and their family members in the Ilocos Region as part of the PUV modernization program.
LTFRB communication development officer Harvey Jay Ocon, in a virtual forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency Ilocos Region on Friday afternoon, said the livelihood assistance program or the entrepreneurship program is in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) while the skills training is in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“The entrep program is open to PUV drivers and operators who are members of cooperatives and allied workers or the conductors and mechanics who are affected by the modernization program,” he said.
He added that through the livelihood assistance program, each qualified individual may avail of up to PHP30,000 (maximum) capital aside from the training on entrepreneurship.
“They will propose a business to be funded and we will verify if it is applicable in their area,” he said.
The scholarship from TESDA, on the other hand, is open to the drivers, operators, and even their family members, Ocon said.
Each operator or driver and one of their family members may avail of the free skills training, he said.
“They will also get a uniform allowance, accident insurance for one year, and training allowance, among others, once they avail of the free skills training,” he said.
Ocon said the qualified drivers or operators should not have any of their children under child labor, and not a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program.
Meanwhile, lawyer Mark Anthony Espenilla, of LTFRB Ilocos regional office, said there are 2,291 public utility jeepney drivers and operators who benefited from the fuel subsidy program.
“There are still a lot of them who have not yet claimed their cards due to outdated numbers thus we cannot contact them,” he said.
Espenilla urged the drivers and operators to contact them via their Facebook account or contact numbers for follow-up and further details of their programs. (PNA)
