Retooling Local Government Engineers thru Computer Technology Training

“Amazing!”, the thirty trainees for the Auto Computer Aided Design (AutoCAD) from the province of animatedly chorused when asked about their experience from the training.

On June 13 to 18 the Provincial Project Management Office of Sarangani conducted AutoCAD training for the personnel from the Municipal Engineering Office of five municipalities and a city of Sarangani namely Kiamba, , , , and City. This was in partnership with AMA Computer Learning Center (ACLC) of General Santos City. The training was under the auspices of the Local Capacity Building Support (LCBS) Component, one of the three major components of the Italian Assistance to The participants of the DAR-IARCDSP from different the Agrarian Reform Community Develop- municipalities were trained in using AutoCAD. ment Support Program (IARCDSP). Other components are Community Infrastructure Development Support and Agricultural Enterprise Development Support.

The Municipal Engineers in attendance were so appreciative and thankful to DAR-IARCDSP for sponsoring this technology training. Three out of the thirty participants were Municipal Engineers.

Engr. Vicente dela Cruz, the Municipal Engineer of Alabel, Sarangani considered the interventions provided by the DAR-IARCDSP as inclusive and holistic. “The program is a great opportunity for Municipal Local Government units to avail of development in its Agrarian Reform Communities, particularly in manpower development and skills enhancement for its officers and personnel.”, he opined. “Further, it’s a wish come true for me. Attending this training raised my level of computer technology awareness almost the same to that of younger personnel in my office. In the past, I could not fathom their tech- savvy lingo.”

Likewise, Engr. Milrose Dela Cuadra, the Municipal Engineer of Maitum, Sarangani was so happy and grateful to have attended the training. “Previously I was hesitant to open AutoCAD files left by my personnel in the fear that it would be deleted. It is very easy if you know the basics. On the first day of the training alone, I already learned how to open and close the AutoCAD program. This makes me very confident performing my job as Municipal Engineer as I can swiftly review AutoCAD files,” she confided.

Both Municipal Engineering Offices of Maitum and Alabel, Sarangani have been into manual preparation of detailed engineering design (DED), based on what they learned from school. Part of the process in preparation is tracing and inking the design. The difficulty lies in the inking phase as once an error is committed in the preparation, one has to scrape it to correct it. Scraping with the use of shaving blade needs timing and technique to prevent scratching the tracing paper. It takes a minimum of three seconds to scrape each little error. Once the scrapping is overdone and scalds a portion of the tracing paper, the design preparation must be repeated all over Engr. Milrose dela Cuadra, the Municipal Enguinee r from again. “DED preparation has been a very the Maitum, Sarangani as one of the participant s of the time consuming and back breaking exer- training conducted last June 2016. cise,” Engr. Dela Cuadra lamented. “With the AutoCAD, there is no erasure. With just few clicks, changes can be swiftly applied and design can be out rightly updated.”, she joyfully shared.

Both Engineers agreed that the technology training makes their work presentable, light and efficient. It can also help them save at least ten days in design preparation, which expedites the turnout of DED production.

“Previously the detailed engineering design of a building would take us two weeks to prepare manually but with AutoCAD, the preparation may take us a maximum of four days”, Engr. Dela Cuadra remarked.

The two engineers are also positive that the skills they acquired from the AutoCAD training will not only benefit the ARC but the whole municipality in general, as it will be applied in the infrastructure requirements of projects in other barangays.

In 2010, the office of Engr. Dela Cuadra hired for the first time a draftsman with expertise in AutoCAD. However, she has observed the fast turnover rates of personnel in her department. It made her realize that her office has become a training ground for draftsmen as one after the other voluntarily left to seek for greener pasture. This is due to the absence of a regular position for AutoCAD operator in the municipality. This has been a common predicament among Municipal Engineers since the most important job of their office is the preparation of engineering plan. Draftsmen and Engineering assistants in their municipalities are in the job order status with contracts renewable every three months sans social benefit.

The absence of an updated and faster computer with higher RAM, software on AutoCAD and substantial allocation of LGU equity aggravates their personnel problems

The Municipal Engineers are looking forward that all their personnel will be trained on AutoCAD. For them to become more effective as Municipal Engineers, they implore DAR- IARCDSP to fund additional training on Civil 3D, Sketch-up Pro, computerized Bill of Quantity preparation, plotting thru the use of geotagging or GIS, and uploading of plotted outputs to Google Earth. Apart from the technology training, they are also eager to learn organization development and project management. (Mary Fe B. Arquiza, 28 June, 2016)