International culinary school rises in Davao

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino-owned international culinary and hospitality school will open this June, not in Manila, but in Davao City.

Named Institute of International Culinary and Hospitality Entrepreneurship (I-Chef), the school will be opened by the Joji Ilagan Bian (JIB) Career Foundation Inc.

A Datu Bago awardee for business and education, Bian is the past vice president for Mindanao of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and also owns and operates the JIB College of Business and Tourism, JIB e-Academy call center school, Tumble Tots international pre-school, and the high-tech JIB Welding Academy, all based in Davao City, with I-Chef as her newest.

Among these schools, I-Chef emerges as JIB’s most modern and with the widest and most prestigious global recognition and accreditation.

I-Chef’s P35-million five-storey building with 3,500 square meters of floor area is virtually a grand showcase of P50 million worth of state-of-the-art culinary equipment and facilities right in the heart of the city.

The facilities replicate the actual working environment in some of the world’s top hotels and restaurants.

With internationally renowned and multiawarded resident chefs providing world-class hands-on training to students, the school offers, not just a standard course, but an international degree that makes its graduates eligible for high-paying jobs abroad.

Moreover, the graduates will receive a Certificate III Hospitality-Commercial Cookery, which is one of the priority occupations listed under the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) of the Migration Laws of Australia.