GOVERNMENT agencies and the city’s various pony boy groups have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) seeking to improve the provision of government programs and services as well as provide technical assistance to the beneficiary groups.
The Scale Up the Implementation of Trabaho, Turismo, Asenso: Ang Pony Boys Project was inked by the regional offices of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR), Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), City Government of Baguio, Barangay Lualhati, Wright Park Horse Handlers Consumers Cooperative, and Kabalyero Guardians, Inc.
The project aims to provide support for Baguio’s pony boys, who were among the hardest hit of the city’s heavily tourism-based businesses in the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, not only did the pony boys lose their livelihood during the pandemic, veterinary care for the animals was also inaccessible during the time.
The project aims to reduce poverty, alleviate welfare, and prepare the recipients and their families related to employment and business opportunities, along with the full reopening of commerce and tourism.
