Opens Development Academy: VECO addresses linemen shortage in Phl

CEBU, Philippines - Through its newly-inaugurated training facility, the Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (VECO) aims to address the shortage of linemen in the country and upgrade their skills to ensure work quality and productivity in serving the public.

Officials of VECO and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority-Region 7 (TESDA-7) graced the blessing and inauguration of the VECO Development Academy (VDA) in Barangay Sirao, Cebu City last Monday.

It also highlighted the presentation of the first batch of TESDA graduates composed of eight trainees who have undergone intensive training in the new facility.

VECO Engineering Group vice president Valentin Saludes III pointed out the deterioration of skills among linemen in the region.

Such shortage of skills, he said, could be attributed to the employment opportunities abroad that seem to be more attractive for Filipino linemen since they earn dollars unlike in their own country who receives a monthly compensation of P20,000 to P30,000.

He cited that VECO lost 25 linemen two years ago. To date, the electric company has 30 linemen.

He noted that VECO acknowledges lineman as a high-risk profession and a valuable asset in the utility company.

A lineman is responsible of constructing and maintaining electric power transmission and distribution facility. He is also assigned on outdoor installation, maintenance jobs and repair works on overhead power cables.

"Linemen are very important for a company who is providing power to the public. Our linemen in VECO are highly-trained for three months and considered for export quality by electric utilities in other countries such as Australia and Dubai that are aggressive with their expansion strategies," Saludes stated.

He said that they also aim to help the underprivileged and train the TESDA scholars in VDA for skills upgrade who will eventually be employed by VECO after the program. He said that graduates of VDA may also prefer to work for other electric companies or in other countries.

Last August, VECO and TESDA officially inked partnership for the skills development of TESDA scholars in VDA. Currently, VDA is working on nine trainees from TESDA for the second batch of linemen graduates.

VECO chief operating officer Sebastian Lacson shared how the electric utility envisioned three years ago building a learning center that is convenient and conducive to provide intensified training and development for the company's potential labor force.

TESDA regional director Rosanna Urdaneta lauded the initiative of the electric utility to assist the government in addressing the standardized learning among Filipino workforce and providing capital outlay for the equipment used during the training.

"This is a dream come true for us. This is what we call as an authentic learning environment. VECO spearheaded to give chance and help us with no deprivation of the state-of-the-art equipment," she said.

She further expressed hope for the sustainability of VDA's programs and encouraged more private institutions to extend assistance in upgrading the basic competencies of TESDA trainees.

The new training camp sits on a 1.3-hectare property in the mountain barangay of Cebu. It is composed of two buildings and a mock substation. The first VDA building that has a capacity of 30 persons include a training room with office and a linemen's tool room while the second building that could accommodate 108 persons houses four lecture rooms. The mock substation, on the other hand, enables trainees can maintain installation work and do actual live works.

VECO poured a total investment of P11.30 million for the second building and another P2 million for the mock substation It took the company eight months to finish the second building and an additional of two months to develop the mock substation area.

Trainees need to complete 23 days of simulation in the classroom and outdoor area before venturing into the actual field training across VECO's franchise area for 90 days. VDA presently has four VECO trainers.

Saludes also shared that they intend to add more buildings and training facilities to further accommodate more scholars and linemen trainees. They also plan to build a live-in area for stay-in scholars and VECO employees during the company's team building activities./JOB (FREEMAN)