Isuzu TESDA in Tacloban celebrates its 10th year anniversary

In 2008, Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Japan, along with Isuzu Philippines Corp. and Isuzu Parts and Manufacturing Corp., opened a TESDA Auto Mechanic Training Center in Tacloban as part of Japanese brand’s social-responsibility project, dubbed as Isuzu Heart and Smile Project (IHSP). This year, the Isuzu team, together with the scholars of the program, celebrated its 10th year anniversary with a three-day festivity.

On the first day of the event, graduates of the program set their feet back on their Alma Mater in Tacloban City to conduct an outreach program. The next day, head officers and guests joined IHSP scholars and their families in an exciting family day at the TESDA Region 8 Regional Training Center Complex.

The main highlight of the 10th year success was the grand alumni homecoming reunion ball where both scholars and IHSP partners became emotional after reminiscing the past and how Isuzu’s educational support program fruitfully changed the lives of its beneficiaries.

Aside from that, there’s also a graduation ceremony for the 17 scholars who accomplished this year’s program. As of now, the Japanese marque has already helped 14 batches of young Filipinos through the IHSP project.

To give you a brief background, IHSP provides a two-year training term to the unprivileged youth nationwide to accomplish the national standard in auto mechanic training with four levels in six months. Applicants are identified by TESDA and World Vision to know if they are eligible for the scholarship. This program gives full support of living and tuition fees for the scholars, and all students are accommodated in dormitories inside the training center compound.

All these breakthroughs only prove the commitment of IML and IPC in slashing the poverty ratio in the country. After a decade, there are now a total of 213 IHSP graduates who are employed either in the country or abroad.