Equipping Punlaan School with the proper tools for success

MANILA, Philippines - Rossel Dequito hails from La Union but her family settled in Binondo, where her father is the breadwinner, supporting six children with his meager earnings as kuliglig driver. She knew that going to college was not an option, so she got a job at a cafeteria earning P50 to P80 a day working for 13 hours. Her aunt, working as a househelp, told her about a potential patron who could sponsor Rossel’s education. Though skeptical at first, she placed everything in God’s hands and went with her tita to a place called Punlaan School. “Doon nagsimulang mabago yung buhay ko (At that point, my life began to change),” says Rossel.

Punlaan School is a vocational-technical and tourism training center for young women whose flagship program is the two-year Dual Training Program in Food and Beverage Services, paid for with scholarship funds. “Through a one-year in-school training, and one-year on-the-job training in a deluxe hotel or fine-dining restaurant, Punlaan develops specialized skills in the food and beverage industry and empowers less privileged women,” explains school directress Nanan Jacinto. A non-government organization and a project of the Foundation for Professional Training Inc., Punlaan advances quality education, values formation, and gainful employment for its scholars.

Michelle Pacheco is another outstanding graduate from Punlaan who has been helping her sales agent father send her three siblings to school. In Punlaan, she experienced doing kitchen activities that made her realize how much she wants to make a career out of her passion for food. If not for Punlaan, she feels she wouldn’t have found her passion in the hospitality industry.

Punlaan’s scholarship program is actually a group effort supported by other partner institutions and donors. Clorox International Philippines Inc. is one such steadfast partner of Punlaan, supporting the school for almost a decade now. Since 2008, CIPI has also been taking care of the yearly stipend of a group of scholars. Most importantly, the well-known household brands provide students with the right tools during their training and classroom education.

The quality of the products is just as important as the supply — as such, the students are privileged to be able to utilize such high-quality Glad products such as aluminum foil, cling wrap and zipper bags early in their kitchen training, which sets them on the path toward excellence and precision in their craft.

“We thank Clorox International Phils. Inc. for helping Punlaan grow by providing the school with premium quality Glad products, which we use for cooking and baking classes all year round. This is very important for the quality of the training we provide,” affirms Nanan.

Clorox bleach is also extensively used in the classroom kitchens for proper and effective cleaning and disinfection, as well as Glad garbage bags. Students learn early on the utmost importance of food sanitation and hygiene, and using the proper cleaners helps in achieving this.

Punlaan achieves 100 percent gainful employment in prestigious hotels and restaurants for its students as soon as they complete the program. This year, Michelle marks five years with Resorts World Manila as Chef de Partie while Rossel currently works as Kitchen Specialist at UCC Café. Such inspiring stories are positive proof that with the right encouragement and tools for success, underprivileged women in society have a better chance at breaking out of disadvantaged situations in life. Punlaan School is now accepting scholars for the coming school year and application is ongoing. For entrance exams, call 727-0581/82. To know more, log on to www.punlaan.com and visit Punlaan School Facebook page or email at punlaanschool@pldtdsl.net. Punlaan School is located at 173 M. Paterno St., San Juan City.