For many young Filipinos, especially those hoping to build a career in the service industry, bartending has quietly evolved from side job to serious profession.
TESDA trainer Shella Bawar (center), with graduates and scholars of GSM Bar Academy, led the preview of the micro-credential bartending program during the World Gin Day celebration.
More than just serving up drinks behind a bar, the work requires a unique skillset that combines knowledge of a wide selection of products, technical precision, creativity, physical endurance, and most of all, the ability to connect with people.
And as the food and beverage, hospitality, spirits, and bar industries today continue to grow and evolve, it’s these qualities that make Filipino bartenders sought after all over the world.
For over a decade, a dedicated facility on the second floor of the Technical Education and Skills Development Administration (TESDA) Women’s Center building in Taguig City has been producing job-ready graduates equipped with bartending skills that catapult them into rewarding careers both here and abroad.
Dubbed the GSM Bar Academy, this hands-on training facility was built by Ginebra San Miguel Inc . and opened in TESDA in 2014, on the occasion of its flagship Ginebra San Miguel brand’s 180th anniversary.
Over the last 12 years, the GSM Bar Academy has trained GSMI scholars and delivered waves of Filipinos serving in high-end bars, cruise ships, hotels, restaurants, resorts, and hospitality establishments in different parts of the world. Many have also ventured into their own F&B businesses.
Complete bar tools were provided to the guests to come up with creative cocktails using Ginebra San Miguel Frasco, GSM Blue Mojito, and GSM Premium.
The Academy features a professional bar laboratory, a flairtending gym, and a fully equipped bar. Its program, developed and implemented by TESDA, involves three months of rigorous training that lets students master bartending fundamentals, beverage preparation, and teaches them customer service, workplace professionalism, and responsible alcohol service.
Once graduates earn their TESDA Bartending Program National Certificate II (NC-II) from the Academy, they are considered fully ready to join the industry and meet its demands and standards.
At the recent World Gin Day celebrations led by GSMI, a number of alumni reconnected with the Academy and assisted in the micro-credential bartending program that became one of the highlights of the event. Some of them proudly shared stories of their journey of success in the field.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunities the Academy has opened for me,” said Ann Rose Tapar, a March 2025 NC-II graduate now working in some of the top bars in Bonifacio Global City.
“Before joining the program, I never imagined I would have the chance to work in these establishments. The training gave me the skills, confidence, and discipline. More importantly, it helped me uplift my life, and showed me that with the right training and determination, bigger opportunities are possible.”
JP Peñaflor, a 2022 graduate who discovered the Academy through a Facebook post after completing his hospitality management degree, said he went on to become head bartender and mixologist at an Italian restaurant, after the program. He also won the 2024 cocktail mixing competition organized by GSMI for that year’s World Gin Day celebration. Today, he works at a five-star hotel bar in BGC.
“The training gave me not only skills, but also confidence,” JP said. “It’s not just about technical skills. It also develops your attitude, professionalism, and confidence. It truly prepares you for high-end hospitality. It has helped me pursue opportunities that changed my life.”
For Cherry Galit, the Academy came at a turning point in her life. She had left school to help support her family after her mother’s got sick. Through the program’s Technopreneur track, she and two fellow scholars were given a mobile bar to start their own business.
This venture has since grown to serve major clients, including GSMI itself, and now employs other Academy graduates.
“Hindi ako galing sa mayamang pamilya at hindi rin ako nakapagtapos ng pag-aaral,” she said. “Pero hindi iyon naging hadlang para maiangat ko ang buhay ko. Malaki ang pasasalamat ko sa pagkakataong ibinigay sa akin ng Ginebra San Miguel.”
For her part, Angela Felarca left a career in corporate finance to chase a different kind of future. She and her twin sister both enrolled upon seeing the GSM Bar Academy, as it gave them “the feels” of working in a real hotel bar.
Angela has gone on to become the first female bartender at a mobile bar company specializing in high-end events. She impresses clients with her flairtending skills and speed.
“What I found here is not just a new career— but my a new passion,” she said. “Every time I return to the GSM Bar Academy, I remember that this is where my dream began.”
In 2025, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. visited and took note of the Academy. After the tour, he called it a “national model for public-private partnership in technical-vocational education.”
Recently, Academy trainer Shella Bawar was recognized for achieving one of the highest employment rates among programs under the TESDA Women’s Center.
“The recognition is an affirmation that we are producing job-ready professionals equipped with the skills demanded by the industry,” said Bawar, now an ASEAN National Master Trainer and National Lead Assessor.
For her and the Academy, what matters most is their commitment to the scholars: equipping them with skills, transforming those skills into livelihoods, helping those livelihoods grow into rewarding careers or thriving businesses—and becoming a source of personal fulfillment and professional pride.
