LPU-B becomes Dole-accredited school-based PESO

MORE than 1,500 Zamboangueños participated in One Billion Rising, a synchronized global campaign held on Valentine's Day, to address the incessant and proliferating cases of rape, battery, sexual harassment, and psychological and physical abuse towards women.

Among the institutions that participated in this event were Western Mindanao State University-Gender Research and Resource Center (WMSUGRRC) and Gabriela Alliance of Filipino Women in Zamboanga City. The event was held at the WMSU grounds, and was joined in by WMSU students, faculty, administrative personnel, WMSU officials, community women leaders and other local city officials.

WMSU president Dr. Milabel Enriquez-Ho expressed her solid support in an audio-video presentation shown before the event: "WMSU will strike to protect women and children from violence. WMSU will dance to express support for programs, projects and services which will be protecting women and children's rights, women and children's health, women's and children's right to live, love and laugh and all other related aspects and areas of living," Enriquez-Ho said.

WMSU-GRRC also spearheaded a forum on the issue of violence against women last Feb. 8 where interested groups and women leaders engaged in an interactive discussion. Consultations with local and community leaders were also conducted to instill on participants a firm grasp of the pressing realities of gender-based violence against women. THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has recently forged an agreement with Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas (LPU-B), through its Placement, Alumni and External Relations Office (PAER), for the establishment of the school-based Public Employment Service Offices (PESO). Now an accredited school-based PESO, LPU-B aims to help students land stable jobs after finishing their studies through career information, pre-employment orientation, labor education seminars and job fairs. Students will be taught on how to access the government's official job portal, www.phil-job.net. Through school-based PESOs, colleges and universities are expected to adjust the courses they offer to fit the needs of their students and the demands of the market.