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Community service. Prior to being a frontliner, midwife and former TVIRD scholar Jeanette Neri-Asmad has been working for the Department of Health (DOH) in Zamboanga City since ‘retiring’ form the company in 2014. (In file photo above): Jeanette took an active role in the DOH’s mass vaccination programs for communities in the region.
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Midwife Jeanette Neri-Asmad is one of Zamboanga City's medical frontliners involved in its wide-reaching COVID-19 vaccination program. Aside from this, she also serves in the main Health Center of Barangay Talon-Talon and assists other health centers in the island barangays of the city.
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Vaccinating babies and adults as well as assisting pregnant mothers during their regular pre-natal check-ups – including delivering babies in birthing clinics – are some of Jeanette’s duties as a midwife under the DOH.
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Engr. Ariel Ogiagan (Second from Left) is joined by his colleagues in one of the official activities of the LDRRMO. He is the lone Civil Engineer among 91 TVIRD scholars and is a member of the indigenous Subanon tribe. Ariel favors responsible mining that protects the rights and general welfare of all IPs.
Part II of TVIRD’s Educational feature
Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte / August 2021 – Engineer Ariel Ogiagan is one of the top officials of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (LDRRMO) in the town of Baliguian, a third-class municipality in Zamboanga del Norte Province. And after seeing him in his office, one can easily speculate that this young civil engineer has come a long way.
A son of a farmer and member of the Subanon tribe, Engr. Ogiagan is one of the 91 scholars of TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc. (TVIRD) during its mining operations in Sitio Canatuan, Barangay Tabayo, Siocon Municipality. He is currently an LDRRMO Officer-2 of this town after previously obtaining his degree in civil engineering back in 2013 at the Western Mindanao University (WMSU).
Being among the top performers of his class and a member of his tribe were the merits on which the company provided him a scholarship grant.
“The opportunity for a better education and decent life is the best thing that TVIRD has done for me and my family,” said Engr. Ogiagan. His sentiment is shared by fellow scholars who are now working in both government and the private sector.
Legacy of learning
For Nurse Cynthia Comisas-Lacpao, the greatest legacy that the company left the Subanon homeland is education. “It has opened many doors and opportunities for us – and for non-Subanons as well,” she said.
A former scholar and company nurse for more than a decade, Ms. Lacpao left TVIRD and worked for the Department of Health (DOH) when the company concluded its mining operations. She then entered politics in 2019 after being elected to a seat in Siocon’s legislative body.
“I will not be where I am today without TVIRD’s Scholarship Program,” shared Midwife Jeanette Neri-Asmad, one of Zamboanga City’s medical frontliners who is now married to a police officer and has four children. Like Nurse Cynthia, Jeanette has been working for the DOH since ‘retiring’ from the company. She agrees that education is one of the best social investments that TVIRD provided the Subanons. “It provided me the credentials to get a job, which helped my parents and my family,” she added.
Another scholar turned nurse is Kris Carousel Banguih-Taradji who is working at the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) in its Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte office.
Young professionals
At present, TVIRD company scholars form part of Siocon’s young professionals – the so-called millennial generation.
Two of Jeanette’s fellow scholars are midwives who work as Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) in the Middle East while another scholar, Aiza Salvador – daughter of Sta. Maria Barangay Chairman Muarip Salvador – is now a licensed Respiratory Therapist and works in a government hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Another young achiever is Ryan Sahiron who obtained his bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education (BSED), Major in Filipino, and is a faculty member of Siocon National High School of this town. He teaches Filipino language and literature to his students. Meantime, Canatuan resident and daughter of former TVIRD employee, Anette A. Bade, holds a degree in Computer Science and now works in the town’s Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO).
Testament to education
A random check on TVIRD’s Scholarship Program records shows that it has produced 20 licensed teachers and all are working in government schools in different towns of this province while at least two are teaching in nearby Sibugay Province. By next year, TVIRD will have an environmental engineer and forester.
Engr. Ogiagan also believes the ongoing final mine rehabilitation project in Canatuan is doing well, especially with the reforestation of the disturbed areas. “These trees will help stabilize slope areas and will prevent erosion, which if not prevented, will endanger the surrounding communities and those living in downstream areas,” said the young technocrat.
He gave 9 points to the current rehabilitation project saying that he believes there should always be room for improvement – and it is what the remaining one point is reserved for – and which also runs parallel with TVIRD’s adherence to continuous improvement in all its undertakings.
Young as they are, these former TVIRD scholars do not think and act for their personal benefit alone. They genuinely think of others, saying that they are just extending the same blessings they once received. Also, since they are now in a better position to share.
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