Empowering the Filipino mason

Benedict dela Cruz daily endures backbreaking labor to send his three kids to school and put food on the table. This, while he contributes sweat and skill to build roads, high-rises, bridges and homes. Yet, little or no regard is given to Mang Benedict’s and his fellow masons’ hard work, for insignificant and lowly is how the craft of masonry is viewed.

In the vernacular, the 43-year-old laborer laments that “When you see a building, you think of the owner or the contractor. You never think of the workers who mixed the concrete or lay the hollow blocks that went into the building. It’s sad but true.”

Recognizing masons

Working to change that point of view, Holcim Philippines,Inc., the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Philippine Constructors Association, and the National Union of Building and Construction Workers have developed a program which recognizes the important role that masons play in physical nation-building.

Possibly the first project to pay tribute to masons in the Philippines, the Galing Mason program aims to enhance the knowledge and skills of masons through basic and advanced masonry training and skills certification. Moreover, it seeks to promote the image of masons, and give recognition to skilled and outstanding masons. Over 1,400 masons have undergone the training program since it was launched in 2004.

TESDA-Pangasinan officer George Chan points out that the seven-day training program includes trade mathematics, work safety, basic masonry tools and equipment, masonry works, basic carpentry, mortar, concrete, and many other skills.

Apart from the free training sessions and certification, mason-participants are given a set of construction tools — a trowel, working gloves, safety hat, dust mask, safety goggles and paint brush —all for free. “This renders them highly employable not only in the Philippines, but also abroad,” said Teri Cruz, Holcim’s corporate social responsibility officer.

Benefits to masons

“We were taught how to mix cement the correct way, and to construct a house properly,” said Mang Benedict, who became a certified mason in 2005. He added that work safety is a key component of the training program. “In the past, we didn’t give safety at work much thought. Now, we are more conscious about working safely.”

The best part of Holcim’s Galing Mason program, he said, is the fact that it instills pride of work and gives masons the chance to have more employment opportunities available to them.

“Now, whenever I apply for work in the province or in Manila, I easily get accepted when I show them my certification,” Mang Benedict said, beaming with pride.

In a year or two, he hopes to go to Dubai or to other destinations where he can apply his masonry skills.

Woman power

The fact that masonry is a male-dominated field did not prevent La Union-based Irenia Dacumos from participating in the Galing Mason skills training program.

Aling Irenia, 45, earns her daily keep washing clothes for her neighbors and others in nearby barangays. She says that earnings as a laundrywoman are barely enough for her family’s needs. With her certificate and her newly learned masonry skills, she hopes to earn additional income from mixing concrete and bricklaying.

“What is important is that while I only finished grade school education, I was able to prove that I can be a mason. I am happy and proud. My husband and my kids are also proud of me,” Aling Irenia, one of the program’s eight women graduates, said in Tagalog.

Holcim’s flagship program

Galing Mason is Holcim’s flagship corporate social responsibility program. “The company decided to make Galing Mason a core project because we want to reach out to the primary users of our products — the masons. We believe that by teaching them how to use cement the right way, sharing safety practices with them and enhancing their skills, we will make them proud of their role in the community,” Cruz said.

Sustainability, she said, is what makes the program special. “We give them skills that cannot be taken away from them.”

She explained that training is only one part of the program. The Galing Mason Olympics is another component which showcases masons’ skills through various levels of competition. Every year, Holcim and its partners also hold a search for outstanding masons. The Galing Mason Award brings recognition to masons based on “their skills and level of dignity they have acquired and shared with family, community, and society in their everyday living as masons.”

Newly learned skills are put into practice by asking Galing Mason trainees to participate in the construction of houses, schools and other community facilities. “We have partnered with Gawad Kalinga. Masons trained under our program have helped build houses in GK areas including Benguet, La Union, and Payatas,” Cruz said.

Galing Mason, Galing Pinoy

An air of fulfillment and deep sense of pride is what set Mang Benedict and Aling Irenia apart from the rest. They serve as inspirations to millions of other Filipino workers whose professions may have been given little importance despite the amount of work they have contributed to strengthen the economy with infrastructure by the sweat of their brow and skill.