The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP), two government agencies tasked to oversee the interests of persons with disabilities, have instructed the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to prepare for training the Philippine representatives from MCCID to the 7th International Abilympics Skills Competition to be held in Shizuoka, Japan from November 13 - 18, 2007.

MCCID champions who will undergo the skills training enhancements are Glenn L. Ortega - Creating WWW Pages, Dianne B. Barcelona - English Text Processing and Aldrin D. Gabriel - English Desktop Processing. They were all gold medalists during the 12th Philippine National Skills Competition held last December 2005.

Supervising the training is Sir Jojo I. Esposa, former computer trainor of 6th International Abilympics Skills Competition bronze medalist Sir Ervin Reyes. TESDA will provide the necessary training materials, financial support and equipment needed for this event.

Glenn is a part time teacher at Bible Institute for the Deaf and has his own computer rental business. Aldrin works at the Office of Malabon City Mayor. Dianne, now happily married to Mark Jason Salazar, is a full time teacher of MCCID.

International Abilympics Skills Competition is sometimes called the "Olympics of Skills". It is held every four years and started in Japan in 1981. It aims to raise awareness among the general public and employers regarding employment of persons with disabilities. Last 2003, a total of 35 countries participated in the 6th International Abilympics Skills Competition held in New Delhi, India. The Philippines got 5th overall with 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.

To know more about the event, visit their website at 7th International Abilympics.