CCP welcomes deaf, hard-of-hearing to FOH Apprenticeship Program
MANILA, Philippines — For persons with disabilities (PWDs), who endlessly encounter discrimination in their quest for landing a good job, the welcoming environment over at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) was like a whiff of fresh air.
CCP, through its Venue Operations Division, recently conducted its Front-of-House (FOH) Apprenticeship Program, and, true to its mandate of transforming lives through the arts, accepted participants belonging to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community.
Just like it has done in the part years, the project once again provided opportunities for differently-abled youth through various trainings in different aspects of arts management and appreciation, as well as theater operations, especially in the frontline service areas.
Working hand-in-hand with the Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD) and the Philippine Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (PRID), the CCP took proactive steps in fortifying the vision that art matters to the life of every Filipino, when the 2025 FOH Apprenticeship welcomed 10 Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing participants.
All these participants shared a strong interest in the arts and a desire to become a frontline personnel of the CCP.
To prepare them for such a possibility, the program, which lasted for two weeks, had the participants go through a series of lectures and workshops with topics related to both the front-of-house and technical aspects of theater operations.
The PSD, which has been CCP's partner in the past iteration of the program, endorsed most of the participants, with their teacher-members interpreting the sessions.
This year, the PRID, through its executive director Pinky Earnhart and Dean Dimaguila, deployed their interpreters to assist in the workshops.
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Arts and culture are powerful tools for expression, connection, and identity. From sign language interpreters to live performances, captioned films, visual storytelling, and deaf-led productions, the CCP performing spaces continue to nurture diverse audiences in ensuring that the world of arts and culture is for everyone.
With the CCP’s FOH Apprenticeship program, the experience extends to opportunities involving cultural work and services.
"Communication in the frontline service is an important engagement with our public. We endeavor to harness our mother tongue, English and a third language or dialect, with sign language not being any different. As we grow our pool of multi-linguals, we may be more effective in addressing our audience members," said Ariel Yonzon, CCP Production and Exhibition Department Manager.
To ensure a holistic experience, all the CCP instructors and facilitators learned sign language — much to the delight of the participants.
They also showed great appreciation for being given their own hearing partners, who assisted them in learning more about the work and how to communicate better, in general.
Interpreters Bing Domantay and Shelly Tesoro relayed how the participants enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people through the program, with emphasis on the prospect of inclusive work that boosted their self-esteem and helped them develop a more cheerful personality.
One of the participants, Dominique Kane Ison, shared how the apprenticeship program changed his life: "I love showing people how happy I am through my work. I realized that I'm also capable of 'performing' like the artists we see onstage."
The CCP remains steadfast in making arts and cultural experiences accessible to all its audiences, including the differently-abled youth and adults alike, recognizing them as an integral part of the creative fabric of society and treating them as so.
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