MANILA - Taguig City on Monday launched a training and online hub for its residents to prepare them for the "new norm" when the lockdown in Metro Manila due to the fast-spreading COVID-19 is lifted.

Called the Taguig Online Resources and Community Hub (TORCH), the platform "introduces training for teachers, open campus for professionals, online resource hub for seniors, resource page for businesses to help and prepare them transition post-ECQ and government information portals," the city government said in a statement.

The TORCH offer the following programs:

• Cyberlab@Home
  Under this program, 4,500 public school teachers and 1,000 private school teachers will undergo training to conduct classes through online meetings and self-paced learning tools.
  
  "With Cyberlab@Home, teachers may conduct at least one class a week on the Web. The study-from-home arrangements would then help decongest schools," the city government said.
  
  Taguig officials said Cyberlab@Home was the first program of TORCH to roll out.
  
  "Since April 20, public and private school teachers have been taking the monthlong course from their homes via desktop computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones," they said.
  
• TECTOC (Training and Enrichment Courses from Taguig Online Campus)
  Amid the pandemic, Taguig officials said they want to help "entrepreneurs, business aspirants and workers with an appetite for new capabilities to enroll."
  
  For this program, officials said the city will be partnering with Skillsoft, an American educational technology company, to provide online training to entrepreneurs, business aspirants and others interested to participate. Its vast clientele includes MIT and Microsoft.
  
  "[They] may take various courses from accounting to Photoshop," the city government said.
  
• Online Senior Citizen Center and Resources (OSCAR)
  This project will feature elderly-friendly services and programs that "promote the well-being" of elderly citizens, according to officials.
  
  "OSCAR includes one month of free load and subscription to movie portals benefiting all 68,000 senior citizens residing in the city," officials said.
  
  The city government also said that through this project, senior citizens can go to Telemedicine, a platform to seek medical attention via phone or Web.
  
  "Very soon, the services will also include online lifestyle guides," officials said.
  
• Taguig Online Portal (TOP)
  This project is part of Taguig's efforts "to provide information and services to citizens in ways that reduce physical contact" amid the pandemic.
  
  The project includes online self-assessment testing, the city's web-based channel "TaguigTV" and its Facebook page "I Love Taguig," and its website Taguig Information Portal. Telemedicine is also included, officials said.
  
• Open for Business (OFB) Taguig
  This project targets business owners as it will help the transition of their operations after the lockdown, city officials said.
  
  "Specifically, it will release webinars (online seminars), teaching them how to do business in the time of the new normal," officials said.
  
  Since Metro Manila was placed on lockdown beginning March 15 due to COVID-19, local government officials and the private sector in the capital region have been trying to find ways to cope with measures aimed at containing the pandemic while continuing their operations.