Who We Are
Punlaan School is a vocational-technical institution that offers scholarship programs for underprivileged young women. Specializing in hospitality and culinary arts, our school is accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT).
Punlaan pioneered the German Model of the Dual Training System for the Hotel and Restaurant industry in the Philippines in 1993. Since we began in 1975, we have provided holistic education and training to women with fewer means, helping them to acquire the general culture and the specific formation needed to work in tourism-related establishments. Punlaan School is owned and operated by the Foundation for Professional Training, Inc. (FPTI) a non-stock, non-profit organization that establishes schools directed to provide professional training in the areas of home and institutional services, technology and management.
The school’s funding comes from voluntary donations from the government, private sectors and private individuals.
OUR VISION
Punlaan is a center of excellence in vocational training that enhances the effectiveness of young women in the performance of their varied roles in family life and nation-building, enabling them to achieve a quality of life consistent with their human dignity, thus effectively alleviating them from poverty.
OUR MISSION
We work hand in hand with our industry partners to provide underprivileged young women with livelihood and employment skills, work attitudes and Christian values that contribute to their economic, social, human and spiritual upliftment.
OUR HISTORY
The Punlaan School was founded in the early 1970s by a group of volunteer housewives who were inspired by the words of Saint Josemaria Escriva on love for family, fellow and God: “Love means deeds and not sweet words.” Saint Josemaria believed that the poor must receive effective and efficient help so that they can, in turn, help themselves and their families live and progress in accord with their dignity as productive citizens, free from any form of social or economic discrimination. As Saint Josemaria said, “there is only one race to which all people belong: the race of the children of God.”
Punlaan was born to transform lives of poor young women by giving them the chance to study, earn for themselves and provide a good living for their families, and bring back their dignity that have been buried under ignorance and, often, under sub-human living conditions. Since its inception in 1975, Punlaan School became one of the very first technical training schools, which offered culinary, dining service and housekeeping services for young students, housewives and househelpers. In the same year, it was officially recognized by the Department of Education (DepEd) for the launch of its one-year Home Arts Course. In 1985 it was recognized as a technical vocational institute offering a two-year technical course in Home Arts. By 1991, it modified the two-year Home Arts Program to Hotel Services and Food Preparation Technology, and upgraded the one-year Home Arts to the Home Skills Training Program. In 1993 it pioneered the two-year German Dual Training Program in Food and Beverage Services for the hotels and restaurants in the Philippines sponsored by the Landesinstitut for Internationale Berufsbuildung in Germany in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP).
In 1994, President V. Fidel Ramos signed the Dual Training Law institutionalizing the Dual Training System as the preferred mode of vocational training. During that time, Punlaan was selected as a showcase of the TESDA (Technical Education & Skills Development Authority) for the actual implementation of the dual training program. By 2009, Punlaan School had upgraded the Home Skills Training Program with the TESDA Competency Based Curriculum for the Household Services Program. In 2014 it became one of the first few schools approved as a Senior High School, administering the Senior High School Dual Training Program -Technical Vocation Track in Hospitality and Culinary Arts.
OUR SEAL
The Punlaan School Seal displays a long and wide seedbed guarded on one side by green mountains, and birds flying in the sky. The seedbed represents Punlaan while the seedlings symbolize the students. Similar to a seedbed’s role in establishing plants, Punlaan prepares the students for professional success by equipping the students with knowledge, skills, and above all, values for their integral formation as human persons. Like the seedlings together with their roots, the students who have learned how to work hard with their hands will grow and mature for harvest, and shall increase in number by sharing with others what they have learned from Punlaan while keeping their feet firmly planted on the ground. The verdant mountains which protect the delicate seedbed from the harshness of strong winds and rain are the teachers and mentors of Punlaan who protect their students, not from the hard realities of life, but from bending brought by these realities. The fresh, gentle water that streams down from the mountains to the seedbed feeds the seedlings that they may grow supple stems and strong roots. The birds in the sky, on the other hand, signify the students’ eagerness to soar high and to see the wholeness of the earth and the transcendence of their work of service to God, country and fellowmen.
OUR EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
At Punlaan, we believe that spiritual formation contributes greatly to one’s lifelong learning. Aside from harmonizing academic and technical skills, our educational approach gives emphasis on character-building, work ethics, and the Christian life. Our commitment to educate and support underprivileged women is anchored in the reflections of Opus Dei founder, Saint Josemaria Escriva who deeply expressed his regard for women:
“Development, maturity, emancipation of women should not mean a pretension to equality, to uniformity with men, a servile imitation of a man’s way of doing things … women would turn out losers, not because they are better than men or worse, but because they are different.”
“…In this sense, a woman’s emancipation means that she should have a real possibility of developing her own potentialities to the fullest extent – those which she has personally and those which she shares with other women.”
“…A woman’s femininity is genuine only if she is aware of the beauty of this contribution for which there is no substitute – and if she incorporates it into her own life.”
Four decades since its inception, Saint Josemaria’s words continue to be the strong and steady hand that helps Punlaan sow the seeds of empowerment among its scholars.
THE FOUNDATION FOR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING, INC.
Board of Trustees, Officers and Members
2020-2021
Punlaan is a center of excellence in vocational training that enhances the effectiveness of young women in the performance of their varied roles in family life and nation-building, enabling them to achieve a quality of life consistent with their human dignity, thus effectively alleviating them from poverty.
President/Chairperson
Imelda G. Nibungco
Vice President/Vice Chairman
Marietta C. Gorrez
Executive Director/Board Member
Treasurer/Board Member
Milagros Araneta
Rosario D. Mijares
Corporate Secretary/Board Member
Ophelia P. Mascardo
TRUSTEES
- Marie Rose G. Marcella
- Jane A. Pulido
- Loreen Anne P. de Guzman
- Arlene C. Keh
- Ana Felisa B. Pastelero
- Elizabeth G. Mendoza
- Maria Adiel F. Aguiling
MEMBERS
- Ma. Luisa Y. Yu
- Marie Jocelyn P. Schallenberg
- Elvira S. Verano
- Fe Gladys B. Golo
- Ruby Ann C. Villanueva
- Carmen L. Picazo
- Antoinette B. Bolaños
- Charlene D. Ching
- Maria Fredesvinda H. Yoingco
- Lorebel D. Degala
Punlaan School Management
School Director
Maria Theresa E. Nabatar
Vice Director for Academics
Vice Director for Student Affairs
Filipinas O. de Guzman