Hedcor creates livelihood opportunities in Benguet
AboitizPower subsidiary Hedcor reinforces its commitment to inclusive growth by continuously providing its host communities with sustainable economic opportunities.
Hedcor, in partnership with Aboitiz Foundation, Aboitiz food business unit Pilmico Foods Corporation, Benguet Technical School, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Benguet, recently held a National Certification (NC) II Training on Bread and Pastry Production, which was participated by 25 members of its partner cooperatives in La Trinidad and Tuba, Benguet.
“We thank the Aboitiz Group for the assistance extended to us. We have truly learned a lot during the training sessions. The big challenge for us now is to apply these learnings so that we can be of service to our cooperative and to the community,” said Felina Mercoles, manager of Barangay Alapang Multipurpose Cooperative (BALMUCO), one of the beneficiary cooperatives.
BALMUCO, Thanksgiving Multi-purpose Cooperative, and Lamut Multi-purpose Cooperative were provided with bakery starter kits after their members passed the certification training conducted by Benguet Technical School.
The kits included ovens, stainless working tables, bread racks, dough rollers, and bread showcases, among others. With these baking tools and accessories, Hedcor’s partner cooperatives will soon open bakeshops in their own communities. Moving forward, Hedcor will also provide the Bineng Women’s Association with bakery starter kits.
Apart from the bread and pastry production training, 18 other cooperative members were provided with sewing kits after passing the NC II training on Dressmaking.
These initiatives of Hedcor for the cooperatives in Benguet are aligned with the livelihood programs of the Provincial Government of Benguet, specifically the Livelihood Loan
Assistance Program, which aims to provide additional income opportunities to more communities and budding entrepreneurs in the province.
Hedcor is the run-of-river hydropower arm of AboitizPower, operating 21 power facilities in the country with a total rated capacity of 245 megawatts.