GLAN, Sarangani (April 17, 2008) – The Jose Abad Santos-Glan-Sarangani Cooperation Triangle (JAGS-CT) and Sangihe Regency in Tahuna, Indonesia forged Wednesday (April 16) a Memorandum-of-Agreement (MOA) on English Proficiency Program (EPP).
Officials said the program aims to cut language barriers and to boost economic activities in international trade.
"I am certain Sangihe will be benefiting from this," said Lalu Malik Partawana, Indonesian Consul General.
"It is our hope that in the near future, the officials would have better English proficiency so they will be more equipped in making Sangihe a more competitive place," the consul said.
The MOA was signed between Sultan Kudarat Polytechnic State College (SKPSC) president Nelson Binag and Professor Siegfred Berhimpon, director of NUSA UTARA Polytechnic in Tahuna.
The SKPSC will carry out the EPP for 30 participants in Tahuna, Indonesia for two months.
"This is a laudable and commendable project in English proficiency for the personnel in the academic and local government unit in Sangihe, Indonesia," Binag said.
"Since English is the accepted international language in the promotion of trade, investment and tourism, it is incumbent for Indonesia and the Philippines to develop their human resource to be proficient in the English language," Binag added.
JAGS-CT is an economic cluster formed in 2004 by the three neighboring municipalities in Southern region of Mindanao to foster economic relations within the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
"This (EPP) is an innovation that the three mayors are dreaming of," Glan Mayor Enrique Yap Jr. said.
"In our quest for development, we need somebody as a partner. We can't survive by our own," the mayor said.
Glan is the province's oldest municipality but the development is "too slow", according to Yap.
"We found out that one of the problems to realize this dream is our language barrier."
"The acquisition of English language competence and skills in the English language is a necessity in all business transactions when we deal with people around the world," Binag said.
SKPSC is a government-run educational institution established in the Philippines by virtue of R.A. No. 6973.
In November 2006, mayors of JAGS-CT towns and officials from Sangihe forged a sisterhood to promote "favorable relations of partnership and cooperation."
The sisterhood pact came in the wake of a trade mission led by Sarangani Governor Migs Dominguez to North Sulawesi in September 2006.
The Regency of Sangihe, which is part of North Sulawesi Province, lies between the islands of Sulawesi and Mindanao.
Sangihe is the nearest Indonesian group of islands to Glan. It has 112 islands lying between the bigger islands of Sulawesi and Mindanao. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE/RGP)
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