Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Atty. Bienvenido E. Laguesma, CESO I, graced the Memorandum of Agreement Signing to “Scale Up the Implementation of the Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso: Ang Pony Boys Project”, a collaborative project by the DOLE and various government agencies and stakeholders at the Barangay Lualhati Covered Court, Baguio City, on December 27, 2022.
The Agreement aims to capacitate the Pony Boys and their families in the reopening of tourism-based business establishments, optimize its organizational performance, enhance the delivery of programs and services, and promote consistency in its implementation.
Signatories of the MOA – including the DOT-CAR, RTWPB-CAR, PRC-CAR, TESDA-CAR, DENR-CAR, City Government of Baguio, Local Government Unit of Barangay Lualhati, Wright Park Horse Handler’s Consumers Cooperative, Kabalyero Guardians, Inc., are headed by the DOLE-CAR as the lead agency in the implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and documentation of the project.
Agency and stakeholder partners of the MOA offer their commitment and synergized efforts toward achieving a progressive recharge of the local tourism industry, and the shared goal of economic recovery and enterprise resilience in the new and better normal.
The Pony Boys were also ceremonially awarded with their uniforms including the vests, cowboy hats, IDs, and their certificates from the previous Service Quality Improvement Program (SQIP) Training held at the DOLE-CAR regional office.
The latter half of the activity included a project site visit by Sec. Laguesma alongside key DOLE officials, and representatives of partner agencies to the Kabalyero Guardians, Inc., Landscaping and Production of Organic Fertilizers Project, and the Wright Park Horse Handlers Consumers Cooperative Convenience Store.
Simultaneous with the program is a Health and Wellness activity rendered by the Philippine Medical Association, Baguio Benguet Medical Society, Philippine Dental Association Baguio City Chapter through the PRC-CAR, and representatives from TESDA-CAR. Their services include free medical and dental consultations, massage, and grooming such as haircuts or nail care.
Secretary Laguesma expressed his pleasure in the success of the Memorandum of Agreement signing, and in the ongoing implementation of the Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso for the Pony Boys. He hopes that the joint endeavor by various line agencies and the local government would yield a fruitful benefit to the Pony Boys, their families, the community, and the region.
end//Daryll B. Ponard
LEO III-FNLI