KALAMANSIG, Sultan Kudarat (PIA) — Nights are now brighter for a  Manobo Dulangan community in Sitio Blanga, Barangay Nalilidan, this municipality. 

On Thursday, 200 residents -- each representing a household -- of Sitio Blanga received  complete photovoltaic (PV) system kits courtesy of Project TALA  (TESDA Alay ay Liwanag at Asenso). Once installed, these PV kits will harvest and store solar energy that will energize their houses. 

Sitio Leader Dodoy Angoling told Philippine Information Agency that their community is grateful to the government for addressing their need. 

"Hayag na ang among lugar," Angoling  responded when asked regarding the immediate benefit of the project to their community. Residents of the area are of the Manobo Dulangan tribe.  (Our place will be brighter.) 

He and other beneficiaries explained that this is the first time that their village will have electricity since Sitio Blanga was inhabited more than 40 years ago. 

Kim, a  former volunteer teacher of CLANS (Center for Lumad Advocacy and Services)  community school and daughter of a former New Peoples’ Army commander sees Project TALA as proof of the government addressing the needs of its people, especially the indigenous peoples and underserved communities. 

"Nagbundak na ang tulong [sa gobyerno] sa ato. Bilang IP priority tayo," she told her fellow Manobo-Dulangan people.  (The government has poured in help for us. As IP, we are a priority.) 

Sitio Blanga is about  13 kilometers from the Barangay Nalilidan center. However, because of the road condition, travel to the area aboard “habal-habal” motorcycle could take over an hour. 

Angoling, Kim, and 198 others underwent  a 36-day community-based training on photovoltaic system installation and maintenance  provided by TESDA’s Provincial Training Center in Lambayong.

As training course graduates, the trainees received PV system kits that they will install in their houses.

A PV systems  kit includes  a 50-watt solar module, a 12-volt storage battery, two LED lamps, wires, and all other materials needed to energize a house.  

Each trainee  also received  allowance of P160 per day of training as well as P500 personal protective equipment allowance, P500 internet allowance, and insurance coverage. 

During the PV system kits distribution on Thursday, each beneficiary also received one sack of rice courtesy of Governor Suharto “Teng” Mangudadatu and the Provincial Government of Sultan Kudarat. 

Other government agencies, including the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor and Employment, have also pledged technology and livelihood aids to the mentioned community. 

In 2021,  25 farmers in Nalilidan underwent training on coffee production provided by TESDA and Nestlé Philippines. 

Spearheaded by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Project TALA is a flagship project  of the Joint Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (JRTF-ELCAC) 12. 

Secretary Isidro Lapeña, cabinet officer  for regional development and security (CORDS) for Soccsksargen envisioned Project TALA as an immediate solution to  address needs to electrify geographically isolated and  disadvantaged areas  and remote communities affected by insurgency. 

In 2022,  TESDA 12 expects to energize about 3,000 households across Soccsksargen Region through Project TALA, regional director Rafael Abrogar II said in an earlier interview.