Villanueva won’t run with De Lima?

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines  – Secretary Emmanuel Joel Villanueva of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority was frank and categorical in answering questions about his plan for a Senate seat in the 2016 elections.

“I cannot run with someone who thinks I’m a criminal,” he told a press conference at Bohol Tropics Resort in this city during his visit here on Thursday when he graced the graduation rites for TESDA’s “Training, Trabaho Programs.”

The candid secretary said he is “not comfortable with the secretary of Justice,” referring to Secretary Leila de Lima. But he hastened to retort he did not mean he hates women. “I love women,” he said.

His being not comfortable with the lineup of then Interior secretary Mar Roxas, who President Benigno Aquino III anointed as Liberal Party’s presidential bet, if ever he’s drafted, stemmed from the fact that he is still included in the list of those former solons who had allegedly plundered their pork barrel funds by the Department of Justice.

And De Lima is also touted to be with Roxas’ ticket for Senate seat in May elections next year.

Villanueva cited the findings, after investigations, of the National Bureau of Investigation, which is under the DOJ, that of the 21 documents, said to be signed by him in relation to his pork barrel funds while he was yet a congressman, none showed he signed those but all were allegedly forged.

This he repeated even if “he sounds like a broken record” over and over again. “Kaya kong ipagtanggol ang sarili ko,” he said.

Villanueva made known his intention in the Senate race next year but he said he’s not 100 percent sure yet.

He said he’s still open to other political parties but has not made any decision yet since he values his family, saying family decision is important.

On the part of TESDA, Villanueva said it is expecting more people joining the Training Trabaho Program, thus it now faces the challenge of creating and establishing more training centers, preferably with private partners.

In Bohol, TESDA has training centers in the towns of Bilar, Jagna, and Tubigon, and the Asian Divine Light College in Tagbilaran City.

Even as of now, many of those aspiring to avail of TESDA scholarships for intricate courses have to wait for the number of enrollees to fill up a class, which is the common scenario, unlike in cases of paying trainees who could proceed with the training anytime.

TESDA already had eight million enrollees for the past five years, 7.2 million of them graduated and around 930,000 are TESDA scholars.

“How I wish na marami pa tayong scholarship programs, but at the same time, another challenge for us is to continue to create and establish more training centers, more private training centers,” Villanueva said.

This is considering that about 800,000 new clients will come into the picture once the government will be fully implementing the K to 12 program, plus the ASEAN integration, according to Villanueva.

“And then you have the pirating of our trainers and assessors by different companies, not only here but also abroad. Ang hirap tapatan ng mga offers na binibigay. So yan ang challenges and ang kagandahan naman po is the government has been sensitive to our tech-voc needs,” he added.

The budget right now for the Training for Work Scholarship Program is at P2.2 billion and for the entire TESDA training trabaho programs for this year is P3.2 billion. By next year, TESDA is proposing for a P4 billion budget for the Training Trabaho Programs. 

Villanueva said tech-voc graduates will have an opportunity to better life and get decent jobs. A notable one is the 45-day training on computer science or on the skills in computer system servicing. The trainees will undergo an assessment and if they pass, TESDA will give them a national certification. Villanueva also explained that an aspirant for the training will also be assessed as to his qualification for the variety of programs where they can fit in.

For her part, TESDA-Bohol director Francisca Opog explained that the TESDA scholarship program is under a one-availment policy. However, a beneficiary can proceed to the next level of the first training availed.

An example is somebody who availed of training on food and beverage in tourism can proceed to a higher level training. A graduate of a welding training can still avail of TESDA training to proceed to gas and metal welding training.  (FREEMAN)