September 6, 2019

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority declared Richel C. Kalaw of Richwell Colleges, Incorporated – Bulacan as the Overall Winner of the Tagsanay Award 2019 during ceremonies held last August 30 in Taguig City.

Kalaw, after besting 32 other candidates, snatched the title with 395.5219 points out  of 500.  She was followed by 1st Runner-up Jonathan D. Gotidoc Jr. of Tarlac School of Arts and Trade, Inc. – Tarlac with 387.2085 pts, and Joffrey E. Gacula of Marcos Agro-Industrial School – Ilocos Norte, who landed 2nd Runner-up with 384.0938 pts.

A licensed teacher, Kalaw, is also a National TVET Trainer Certificate (NTTC) holder in Bread and Pastry Production NC II, Front Office Services NC II, Food and Beverage Services NC II, Food Processing NC II, and Housekeeping NC II and NC III.  In addition, she also holds National Certificates Level II and III in Commercial Cooking.

The Top 8 contenders of the awards included Marife A. Peña of Northern Mindanao School of Fisheries - Agusan del Norte; Oliva A. Ramos of Davao Oriental Polytechnic Institute - Davao Oriental; Melody M. Cortez of Quezon National Agricultural School – Quezon; Donnabelle F. Sollesta of New Lucena Polytechnic College – Iloilo; and Elrey Elmoore C. Abella of Teamskills School for Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management, Inc. - Negros Oriental.

The Tagsanay Award is one of TESDA’s Institutional Awards that gives recognition and incentives to trainers from private and public technical vocational institutions (TVIs) and TESDA technology institutions (TTIs) who have exceeded the requirements for TVET trainers and have demonstrated competencies beyond expectations. 

Nominees of the Tagsanay undergo a stringent selection and elimination process starting from the provincial level culminating in a week-long national selection program. In this final stage of the process, the nominees’ logic, balance, negotiation skills, courage, taste, and ability to deal with new challenges are tested and evaluated.  At the same time, their portfolios are also carefully scrutinized.

The TESDA National TVET Trainers Academy (NTTA) also hosted and organized the Tagsanay Awards Ceremony this year.