25/09/2026
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๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐
๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ, ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข-๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐.
(๐๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ก๐ช๐ฅ๐ ๐พ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ, ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐ค ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐) In line with DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentinoโs commitment to strengthening youth employability and workforce readiness, the JobStart Philippines Program equips young Filipinos with the skills, work experience, and confidence to enter the workforce.
Most young Filipino jobseekers often face challenges in landing their first job. Limited work experience, financial difficulties, and uncertainty about which career path to pursue after graduation can make the transition to employment even more challenging.
For five young jobseekers from Muntinlupa CityโMa. Theresa Montiagodo, Mike Jade Nunez Placios, Joshua Salal, China Sugagil, and Yuki Capioโa recruitment post from the Public Employment Service Office - Muntinlupa led them to an opportunity that would eventually become their stepping stone toward employment.
Joshua, for instance, had to put his job search on hold after graduation to help support his family. His father had suffered a mild stroke and required repeated hospitalizations, prompting Joshua to work as a delivery rider. When he eventually began looking for employment, he came across the JobStart recruitment post at PESO and decided to apply.
โ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข-๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ช ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐จ-๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข-๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐บ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ-๐ฉ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ, ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ-๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐโ Joshua shared.
Despite coming from different circumstances, the five young jobseekers saw JobStart as an opportunity to gain valuable experience, develop their skills, and take their first steps toward employment. For some of them, stepping into a new environment was initially nerve-racking. China recalled feeling nervous during her first days in the program.
โ๐๐บ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ, ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ช ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆโฆ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ญ, ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ-๐ฆ-๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ช ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ข,โ she shared.
Mike Jade likewise valued the lessons he gained from the training, particularly those that helped him communicate and prepare for the workplace.
โ๐๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ตโ๐ด 10 ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ง๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐จ-๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข ๐ต๐ข๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ธ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฐ,โ he said.
As the days passed, their initial hesitation gradually gave way to confidence. They became more comfortable in an unfamiliar environment, formed friendships, learned to work with others, and discovered that they were capable of taking on new challenges.
Following their training graduation, the five proceeded to Technical Training and Internship (TTI) from September 2025 to March 2026 at Tri-Phil International Incorporated, one of the programโs partner companies.
The internship gave them the opportunity to experience actual workplace operations and apply the lessons they had learned during SCST. The transition, however, came with another set of challenges.
They were no longer simply learning concepts in a training room. They were introduced to workplace processes, equipment, quality standards, and production requirements.
On their first day, the machines and processes were unfamiliar.
โ๐๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ป๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ [๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด],โ Joshua shared.
With the guidance of their supervisors, trainers, and co-workers, the five gradually strengthened their technical skills while learning what it meant to work in a professional environment.
For Ma. Theresa, asking questions and seeking guidance were essential to learning.
โ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฑ๐ข-๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ข๐จ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ข ๐บ๐ถ๐ฏ. ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ช ๐ฑ๐ฐ, ๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ข. ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐จ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ถ๐ญ๐ช ๐จ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ธ๐ข, ๐ฎ-๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ต,โ she shared.
Through continuous practice, patience, and guidance, what initially seemed unfamiliar gradually became manageable. The machines became less intimidating, and the young workers grew more confident in performing their assigned tasks.
Today, these five beneficiaries are employed as sewers and manual operators at Tri-Phil International Incorporated, putting into practice the technical and life skills they gained through the JobStart Philippines Program.
Their experience has also given them a message to share with other young Filipinos: make the most of every opportunity, stay disciplined, ask questions, be willing to learn new skills, and never stop improving.
โ๐-๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐บ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ช ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐จ๐บ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ,โ China said.
For Yuki, perseverance is equally important.
โKahit mahirap [ang training], pagpatuloy pa rin,โ he said.
Looking back, the five are grateful not only for the training and work experience they received, but also for the opportunity to take their first steps into the world of work.
โ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฐ,โ Ma. Theresa said, expressing her hope that JobStart would continue so more young people could pursue their career goals.
Mike likewise expressed his appreciation for a program that gives young people an opportunity to learn, gain experience, and find direction in their careers. For him, JobStart can be especially meaningful for those who are still uncertain about the kind of work they want to pursue.
Joshua, meanwhile, was grateful for the chance to discover and develop his skills through the program.
โThankful po ako kasi nadaanan ko po yung programa niyo,โ he said, hoping that DOLE would continue providing similar opportunities to young people searching for work and for a place where they can put their skills to use.
For China, becoming part of JobStart was an opportunity she did not take for granted.
โThank you so much po kasi isa po ako sa mga kabataan na nabigyan ng ganitong opportunity. Sana marami pa pong kabataan ang magkaroon ng ganitong opportunity,โ she said.
Yuki shared a similarly heartfelt message, recognizing the role the program played in helping him reach where she is today.
โThank you po sa DOLE at JobStart kasi kung wala po yun [JobStart program], wala ako dito,โ she said.
For these five young workers, JobStart became more than a training program. It gave them a chance to build confidence, gain practical experience, discover their abilities, and ultimately secure employment.
Their journey reflects what can happen when young people are given the right opportunities, and when they have the determination to learn, persevere, and take that first step towards a stable job and a meaningful career.
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