Sugar workers’ training center to rise in Negros Oriental

MANILA, Philippines — A training center that can help preserve the country’s sugar industry is set to rise in Negros Oriental.

After over a decade of planning, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported over the weekend that the construction of the P18.5-million Sugar Workers Training and Livelihood Center (SWLC) has finally been approved.

The Sugar Tripartite Council (STC) chaired by DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma granted the approval during a recent meeting of the STC.

The proposed training center was initiated in 2011, but the construction was delayed due to a series of revisions and updates on the plan.

The training center will be constructed on a 1,000-square-meter property in Barangay San Isidro, which was donated by the city government of Tanjay.

DOLE-Central Visayas officer-in-charge Lilia Estillore said orientations, seminars and training about the programs and services of DOLE and TESDA would be held in the center for sugar planters, workers and their dependents.

Estillore said that technical and livelihood trainings are necessary to preserve the sugar industry, which is currently undergoing financial, technological and human resource crises.