Central Luzon PESOs hold mid-year assessment

CLARK FREEPORT ZONE – Central Luzon’s Public Employment Services Offices (PESOs) on Friday concluded their 2017 PESO Mid-Year Performance Assessment (PESO-MYPA) with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The three-day mid-year performance assessment, which commenced last Tuesday, was held at the Royce Casino and Hotel at the Clark Freeport Zone.

DOLE Regional Director Ana Dione reported to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III that around 120 delegates comprised of PESO managers and personnel from various PESOs all over the region attended the assessment.

Aside from the PESOs, officials of the Central Luzon Career Guidance Network (CL-CGN) were also in full-force in participating in the said assessment.

Technical Support and Services Division for Employment and Welfare head Alejandro Inza Cruz and Labor Statistician Andre Josef Bustos took turns in highlighting the PESOs’notable mid-year accomplishments.

First is the placement of 108,772 jobseekers for local and overseas work which recorded a placement rate of 82 percent over 133,337 referred appl i cant s.

“We surpassed anew the Bureau of Local Employment’s (BLEs) targeted 80 percent placement rate thanks to the PESOs’commitment in providing more employment opportunities to ensure that more jobseekers succeed in landing jobs,” Inza Cruz said.

Inza Cruz also noted that some 997 jobseekers were also placed through 11 region-wide job fairs held during the Labor Day and Independence Day festivities.

Aside from this, around 4,556 jobseekers were placed through various local job fairs held within provinces, cities, and municipalities all over the r egi on .

Inza Cruz said that all national and local job fairs are now adopting the Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan (TNK) Concept forged between the DOLE and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Meanwhile, Bustos, for his part, provided updates on several employment programs aimed to boost employment opportunities and learning for working youths.

Bustos reported that some 19,715 poor but deserving students were provided short-term employment opportunities through the SPES, which stands for Special Program for the Employment of Students.

As of August 2017, P50,127,546.24 SPES-funds, representing government’s 40 percent share for payment of salaries of SPES-beneficiaries, have already been released or paid to some 15,059 students upon completing their requirements.

The remaining 60 percent of their salaries, on the other hand, were shouldered by the DOLE’s SPES-partners from participating local government units and private firms.

Aside from SPES, Bustos reported that some 664 youth beneficiaries comprising college graduates/undergraduates, tech-voc, and high school graduates were engaged in government work under the DOLE Government Internship Program (GIP).

“Our DOLE GIP intern-beneficiaries were engaged in government work assigned to various LGUs, public schools, and other government agencies,” Bustos explained.

Some 12,952 students from 69 public schools, TESDA training institutions, and State Universities and Colleges all over the region attended 94 Career Guidance and Employment Coaching (CGEC) Seminars.

The high CGEC-scorecard is attributed to the close coordination between the PESOs and Career Guidance Networks on their Career Guidance Advocacy activities in pursuit of minimizing future jobs mismatch.

On livelihood and emergency employment, some 9,022 marginalized individuals comprising farmers, ambulant vendors, working youths, housewives, and persons with disabilities were provided livelihood assistance/projects amounting to P42,069,833.

The livelihood projects include NegoKarts, Starter Kits, Youth Employment Program (YES), Workers Income Augmentation Program (WIN-AP), and Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers ( TUPAD) .

Inza Cruz noted that all funded interventions were sourced from the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program or DILEEP and centrallymanaged funds.

Director Dione, who was present to oversee the assessment, lauded and thanked the PESOs for their valuable contribution in garnering a successful assessment scorecard for the mid-year.

“We commend you all for a job well-done in achieving our mid-year targets in 2017. Thank you for your utmost support and commitment in ensuring that our programs and services reach and transform the lives of our jobseekers and beneficiaries from the grassroots,” Dione said.

“For the remaining months of this year, I urge our PESO Family to continue improving our ways, by being creative and innovative to effectively and efficiently deliver our program services,” she added.

Another important highlight of this year’s MYPA is the capacity building programs relevant to various DOLE and PESO programs that all PESO Managers and Personnel have undertaken.

Topics discussed include DOLE-LGU Partnership on Labor Standards Compliance Advocacy, K – 12 DOLE Adjustment Measures Program (AMP), and the Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan (TNK) Concept Job and Livelihood Fai r s.

Other relevant topics also discussed include SPES Impact Evaluation Results, Philippine Talent Map Initiative, New Features of the PhilJobnet, and PESO Employment Information System (PEIS).

All PESO personnel participated in the discussion and exchange of ideas and strategies in drafting an Action Plan in today’s PESO Planning Session and PESO Hour.

A fellowship night, featuring a Zumba Dance Competition, was also held to highlight the various talents of PESO personnel.