The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 5 (Bicol) has called for the institutionalization of the Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs) in various local government units (LGUs) across the region.
DOLE-5 Regional Director Ma. Zenaida A. Angara-Campita, in a statement on Wednesday, said strengthening employment services at the local level is one of the keys to giving people more access to employment, and ultimately uplifting them from poverty.
“The PESO carries the social services of the department, facilitating labor market information, including matching job seekers with employers seeking workers,” she said.
Campita, during the regular session of the Sangguniang Bayan of Donsol, Sorsogon early this week, presented the importance and benefits of institutionalizing PESO and encouraged the immediate passage of an ordinance relative to it.
She discussed the salient features of Republic Act (RA) 8759, otherwise known as the PESO Act of 1999, as amended by RA 10691.
PESO, as an employment service facility of the government, ensures prompt, timely, and efficient delivery of employment services under the supervision of the LGU and the technical support of DOLE.
Angara-Campita said its institutionalization will enable the office to promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities at the grassroots level.
She added that once PESO is institutionalized, LGUs are prioritized for the provision of DOLE programs and services.
Among the main functions of PESO are the provision of labor market information between job seekers and employers both for local and overseas employment; administration of testing and evaluation instruments for effective job selection, training, and counseling; provision of access to various livelihood and self-employment programs to people with entrepreneurship qualities; implementation of employability enhancement training or seminars for job seekers; provision of employment or occupational counseling as well as orientation and re-integration assistance services to prospective local and returning overseas Filipino workers; and performance of other functions analogous to the objectives of the PESO Act.
Other services of PESO include programs and services such as the holding of job fairs, livelihood and self-employment bazaars, special credit assistance for placed overseas workers, Special Program for Students and Out-of-School Youth (SPESOS), Work Appreciation Program (WAP), Workers’ Hiring for Infrastructure Projects (WHIP), and other activities developed by DOLE to enhance the provision of employment assistance to beneficiaries particularly for groups of displaced and disadvantaged workers.
Source: Philippines News Agency
