The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has partnered with Petron Corporation to further boost its automotive training program.

The agency recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the said oil company to establish a “state-of-the-art Car Care Center.” The facility will be located at Building 9 inside the TESDA Complex in Taguig City.

In a statement, the center will be called “TESDA – Petron Car Care Center (TPCCC)” which will be “patterned after the Petron Car Care Center (CCC) located inside Petron service stations and also as standalone service shops,” the agency said.

“The standard Petron Car Care Center offers a complete line of professional automotive care services from light to heavy repairs, as well as tire services such as wheel balancing and alignment,” said TESDA.

“Likewise, the TPCCC will consist of various tools and equipment provided by Petron and necessary for the conduct of trainings and assessment, which will be offered in coordination with the TESDA Regional Training Center-National Capital Region (RTC-NCR). The training programs will initially focus on Preventive Maintenance Servicing (PMS), and later will include Automotive Servicing and allied diploma programs,” it added.

The facility will be operational by June and “will have the capacity to train about 250 individuals annually,” said TESDA.

TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapena said that this deal with Petron “will ensure the delivery of demand-driven technical vocational education and training (TVET) delivery and provide job security to graduates through industry partners.”

“The automotive sector has always been one of the top sectors when it comes to producing TVET graduates. In 2021, it ranked fourth among the top sectors with 82,836 graduates. Through this partnership, TESDA expects more highly-skilled automotive graduates in the coming years,” the agency said.

Lapena expressed his gratitude to Petron Corporation as this initiative will “help produce highly skilled Filipinos in the automotive sector.”

“We are optimistic that this venture will create a better, more comprehensive learning experience for the Filipino workforce, preparing them for the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the constantly evolving world of work,” he said.

Petron Corporation Vice President for Industrial Sales Virgilio Centeno also welcomed this partnership with TESDA.

“We welcome this opportunity with TESDA to use one of our strengths as an industry leader to empower our less fortunate countrymen so they can lead better lives. This can also address our country’s need for more skilled personnel while increasing our productivity as a nation especially with the pandemic still ongoing,” he said.