The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) encouraged Baler residents to consider online freelancing for higher-paying opportunities.

About 50 students, content creators, digital professionals, and aspiring freelancers learned how to improve their competitiveness, and develop their own domestic Business Process Outsourcing companies during the ASCEND: Digital Workers to Digital Agency Owners learning sessions held in the town.

In a video message, DICT Undersecretary for ICT Development Jocelle Batapa-Sigue underscored the agency’s commitment to enabling online freelancing throughout the country. 

“Through the Empowering Digital Workers of the Gig Industry Ecosystem in the Philippines (EDGE) Program, DICT aims to sustain the growth of the gig economy and enhance the competitiveness of Filipino online freelancers,” she added.

The official also encouraged Baler’s digital workers to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the ASCEND learning sessions in order to develop, advance, and compete in the mainstream market. 

“With a growing community of remote workers, Baler is an ideal locale for hosting the ASCEND learning sessions. This event is really the municipality’s entry point to this opportunity. I hope that the municipality’s talent pool will step up, transition, and embrace the opportunities that are before you through this initiative,” she pressed.

The event featured testimonials from successful online freelancers who became entrepreneurs.

On behalf of the participants, Tiara Mejos expressed gratitude to DICT for providing them with opportunities and inspiration to advance their careers in the digital business.

“It was a good workshop and I learned a lot. Always good to hear from people who are successful in their fields,” she added.

Since 2017, DICT has been enabling online freelancing by implementing a number of programs.

These include Rural Impact Sourcing, Digital Jobs Training, and freelancing opportunities through EDGE PH. (PIA Region 3-Aurora)