Philippines
International Development Project
The overview.
In partnership with the Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD / FPTI)
For twenty years, young women in Cebu have found their start in life at BCPD. From hotel kitchens to hospital wards, from a rural livelihood class to a Badjao community bakery, our partner turns training into TESDA qualifications, real jobs, and a way forward for women facing social exclusion.
Honarable Marc Innes- Brown, Australian Ambassador visiting BCPD
The partners.
The Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD), run by the Foundation for Professional Training Inc. (FPTI), is a long-standing training institution in Cebu — and one of Reledev’s most enduring partners, now in its twentieth year of collaboration. BCPD exists to give young women, and women from low-income and socially excluded communities, a route to gainful employment through education and skills.
BCPD delivers nationally certified (TESDA) training in hospitality, restaurant services and health care, backed by on-the-job training with industry partners and an active industry-linkage service that connects graduates to employers. Its reach extends to persons with disabilities, out-of-school youth, mothers in isolated rural villages, and indigenous Badjao women — supported by a wide network of scholarship donors..
The project.
Students in training
The project works on five fronts to open economic opportunity for women in Cebu. At its core is a Technical Education Program taking young women through senior high school and Hotel & Restaurant Services training, culminating in TESDA National Certificates and supervised placements in hotels and restaurants.
A second stream trains women for entry-level roles in health care. Further programs deliver livelihood skills to persons with disabilities, to mothers and out-of-school youth in the remote community of Dalaguete, and to indigenous Badjao women building a community bakery — all underpinned by a system that profiles every student and tracks their progress from enrolment onward.
“Many hotels prefer to take BCPD students — they are competent, have good work values, and share in our mission of empowering young women.”
Impact at a glance.
Results shown cover July 2025 – June 2026.
1,650
patients served in student-led health missions
46
women enrolled in Health Care Services
167
women earned 2+ TESDA hospitality certificates (target 160)
216
students profiled and tracked from enrolment
A visit from the Australian Ambassador
On 3 December 2025, Australia’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Marc Innes-Brown, visited BCPD. He toured the training laboratories, watched students demonstrate their skills — even having his blood pressure taken by a Health Care Services student — and heard three alumnae and three current students share how BCPD had changed their lives, before an “I love Cebu” send-off.
Competence that employers seek out
Many hotel HR teams actively prefer BCPD students “because they are competent and have good work values,” and share in the school’s mission of empowering young women. In the health sector, word of the students’ competence has spread among doctors and facility managers helping open new placement partnerships.