ProjectPRIDE

MANILA, Philippines - Louie John Salda, a hotel and restaurant management graduate from Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, knew he had the drive and the skills for a sales and marketing career, but that such corporate jobs were scarce in his home region.

Norhaid Kubon, a feisty certified public accountant who had graduated cum laude from Mindanao State University, yearned to gain wider exposure in the corporate world.

In just six months, however, both Salda and Kubon found themselves launched on the careers they had dreamed of through the Productive Internships in Dynamic Enterprises (PRIDE) project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The project, implemented by USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, under the oversight of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) in partnership with companies which include KFC, Maybank Philippines, Globe Telecom, RCG Information Technology, Interphil Laboratories, and the Bistro Group, addresses the dilemma of college graduates who are unable to find jobs commensurate with their skills in Mindanao. The project also aims to increase awareness in participating corporations and in the business world at large of the skilled pool of potential employees available in Mindanao – and of its positive implications for business expansion in the region. To date, 49 graduates have completed the internship.

According to the Commission on Higher Education, 492 of the country’s 2,180 higher education institutions are in Mindanao. More than 80,000 graduates are produced by these higher education institutions annually. However, these graduates have limited career opportunities in the corporate sector.

Through PRIDE, companies in Manila and other commercial centers provide managerial and technical internships of three to six months to selected graduates from Mindanao universities.

This allows the graduates to gain corporate experience in their chosen field and to build up their resumés. After successfully completing their internship, many of them have since been hired for full-time, career-track positions by their host companies.

Norhaid Kubon and Louie Jon Salda are two graduates from Mindanao who are now pursuing their dream careers, thanks to the PRIDE project.

“My PRIDE experience was a great opportunity to show what I could do,” said Norhaid Kubon, whose internship at a sister company of We Are IT Philippines, Inc., a satellite services provider, encompassed training and supervisory roles. “I was involved in ISO implementation, and helped design and set up the company’s automated accounting system.” 

Jocelyn Villasenor, head of Maybank’s human resource services center, found the PRIDE interns assigned to the bank’s Makati office “skilled and seriously dedicated to their work,” and able to blend well with Maybank employees from other cultures and religions.

“Before PRIDE we never even thought of hiring graduates from Mindanao,” Villasenor said. “The internship has given these ‘hidden’ skilled workers an opportunity to shine and be recognized.”

Looking back on his six months’ internship at Maybank, engineer Abdul Hamid Batugan said, “The internship sharpened my thinking and skills. I learned something from every assignment I was given.”

Kubon, Batugan and other interns said that Mindanao graduates have encountered discrimination in the job market.

“Some people underestimate the abilities of those coming from Mindanao, which they think of as a backward or violent place, but then their impressions change when we show what we can do,” said Batugan.

“People used to see my region as chaotic,” said Salda. “But I do my best to let them know that Tacurong is diverse, progressive and has wonderful, skilled people – and a lot of tourism potential.”

Con Ayroso, engineering and technical manager of We Are IT, reported that the company had recently hired Carlo Jay Bagundang, another PRIDE intern. 

“Jay is now on a month-long field assignment in Mindanao,” said Ayroso. “Apart from his very satisfactory customer service skills, I felt confident about the deployment because of his ability to blend in with the locals, proficiency in the language, and familiarity with the area.”

Ironically, some foreign employers appear to be more aware of the potential of Mindanao graduates than many firms in the Makati central business district.

Con Ayroso, engineering and technical manager of We Are IT Philippines, Inc., praises the custormer service skills of former PRIDE intern and current employee Carlo Jay Bagundang.

Joylyn Gamiao, chair of the hotel and restaurant management department at Sultan Kudarat State University, from which Salda graduated, said that she has received positive feedback from international recruiting firms that have engaged students from her university for on-the-job training in Singapore hotels.

“They’ve noticed that Mindanao graduates – from state universities and from families with average incomes – are competitive in terms of skills, knowledge and ability to communicate,” Gamiao said. “They’re eager to do the job.”

This was echoed by Mary Ann Santiago, a manager for the Bistro Group, which is expanding its operations in Mindanao, and has provided management training to ten PRIDE interns – including Salda – covering all aspects of operations. She noted that “PRIDE interns are flexible and open to learning.”

Of the 49 Mindanao graduates who have completed PRIDE, 25 have been offered career-track employment by their host companies. In all, 36 interns are now working in jobs found as a direct result of their participation in the internship, while others have chosen to pursue graduate studies.

Some, like Norhaid Kubon, look forward to fulfilling their career dreams in the national capital. Others are hoping to put their talents and qualifications to good use in their home region, and playing a part in its economic growth.

“PRIDE is helping to enlighten the business world on the potential of Mindanao,” said Batugan, who is now a full-time Maybank employee, and will oversee the construction of its offices nationwide – including new branches in Mindanao.

“They are learning that it’s not only Luzon and Visayas that produce talented people. There are also people like that in Mindanao,” he said.