Young,technically skilled individuals from the 4 provinces of Region 1
became hopefuls for a chance to represent the country in the ASEAN Skills
Competition as they received Gold Medals in the 14th Regional Skills



Competition held in the Pangasinan Capital Town of Lingayen on November 17-18,
2011.

The province of Pangasinan copped the overall championship in the 14th
Regional Skills Competition (RSC) hauling 9 out of the 12 golds, 2 silvers and 1
bronze making the province the run-away winner in the skills league.

The
provincial contingents of Ilocos Norte, La Union and Ilocos Sur took
one gold each.Due to differences in the silver tally, Ilocos Norte was declared
first runner-up, La Union as second runner-up and Ilocos Sur the third runner-
up.The gold medalists will represent the region in the PNSC next year.

The 12 areas for competition were performed in four different venues. The
Provincial Training and Development Center (PTDC) in Lingayen,Pangasinan housed
the skills
competition for Hairdressing, Fashion Technology, Beauty Therapy and
in computer-based areas such as Web Design, Graphic Design and Software
Application. The contest in Welding and Auto Technology were held in the TESDA
Provincial Training Center (PTC) and Electrical Installation at the TESDA
Pangasinan School of Arts and Trades (PSAT) in Lingayen, Pangasinan. The Villa
Jireh in Labrador, Pangasinan hosted the competition in Cookery and Restaurant
Services. The only registrant in Refrigeration and Aircondition from
Pangasinan will go straight to the PNSC.

The formal launching of the competition on November 17, 2011 started off
with a parade which was joined in by hundreds of TVI students, administrators
led by key participants of the RSC. Lingayen Mayor Ernesto Jonas Castañeda
welcomed the participants and expressed his generosity as the host of this
year’s Youth Skills Olympics. He stressed the relevance of skills competence
into the dream of any government official to capacitate his people towards
economic endeavor.

TESDA Regional Director, Mr. Washington Agustin challenged the
participants to compete not against each other but against the international
standards. He
encouraged the participants to continue on allotting a room for
improvement in order to keep up with the “history and tradition of TVET
excellence”.

Dr. Mina Francisco, Pangasinan Provincial Government’s Chief
Administrative Officer, represented Governor Amado T. Espino in the Opening
Program. “The youth have the power to bring about good in their lives from the
influences of modernism in order to conquer multi-tasking and re-engineering in
the modern career world,” Dr. Francisco said in her message. She also
articulated that
the RSC is a fitting undertaking in unearthing the talents of
the youth that could be at a competitive advantage with their counterparts the
world over.

The awarding
ceremonies were held at the closing of the RSC last November 18 at the PTDC with
Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim Jr. as Guest of Honor and Speaker. The
Vice Governor assured the participants a strong support from the provincial
government asthe
RSC recognizes the value of skilled labor and also facilitates
employment.

The Pangasinan Association of Private Technical Vocational Institutions
(PAPTVI) headed by Instituto Centro Asia President Andrei Justino F. Abalos, as
the major partner
from the private sector, generated the much needed resources
in the staging of this year’s RSC.

The 14th RSC is a comeback staging since its last run in 2005 held in
Laoag City, restoring its main cause of advocating technical vocational
education and training and enhancing the technical competitiveness of skilled
labor in the region. This year’s RSC primed up the region in its participation
in the Philippine National Skills Competition (PNSC) and for a possible showing
in the 9th ASEAN Skills Competition to be held in Indonesia next year.