31/03/2021
TESDA PAMAMARISAN District Office under the leadership of District Director Rosalinda B. Talavera conducted a virtual graduation ceremony of batches 2 – 10 of the Poverty Reduction Livelihood and Employment Cluster -National Capital Region (PRLEC-NCR) Urban Community Agriculture Project implementation in Barangay Fortune, Marikina City on 17 March 2021 as a culmination of the technical vocational training component of the project.
Following the guidelines of the IATF-EID under the General Community Quarantine, the project which began on 19 October 2020 through a face-to-face mode of training delivery has completed the targeted number of participants totaling one hundred (100) beneficiaries on 28 December 2020. The program was opened with a welcome message from the Brgy. Captain Rizalina Teope of Brgy. Fortune, who thanked TESDA PAMAMARISAN for the completion of 10 batches and the setting up of an urban garden at the MRF Facility, that began an alternative livelihood for the beneficiaries (composed mostly of informal settlers). Following the graduation rites conducted on 30 October 2020 which recognized the first batch, a total of ninety (90) graduates were then presented before the convergence partners by the PAMAMARISAN District Provisional Training Team Leader Cynthia Gabayoyo, and was confirmed by the PAMAMARISAN District Director Rosalinda B. Talavera. TESDA NCR Regional Director Florencio F. Sunico, Jr. also gave his message on the PRLEC Project followed by the TESDA Secretary Isidro S. Lapeña's congratulatory message to the graduates.
Other officials who extended their congratulatory messages to the urban agriculture graduates and to TESDA PAMAMARISAN include NCR Regional Director Marcelina S. Alcantara, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Deputy Regional Director Alben Venturanza, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), OIC Ms. Susan G. De Leon, Philippine Information Agency (PIA), NCR Regional Director Woodrow C. Macquiling, Jr. of the Department of Tourism (DOT) represented by Ms. Mariville Ramos, NCR Senior Tourism Officer. Testimonials of graduates from various batches were also presented. The ceremony was closed with a video message from LTC Leopoldo E. Acerden, IV, Acting Group Commander, Civil-Military Operations Group of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), who presented the seed distribution and tree planting activities of fruit-bearing trees, such as cacao and calamansi to selected PRLEC NCR gardens which included the Brgy. Fortune in Marikina City.