The first Public Employment Service Office (PESO) inside a mall in this city will start serving job-seekers next month.
Legazpi City PESO manager Diosdado Rañeses, in an interview on Sunday, said they are now completing all the needed equipment and facilities for its full-swing operations after it was offered a new location inside an SM mall here free of rent.
“We will soon operate and accept clients in our PESO this August after we complete all the needed office equipment and facilities,” he told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
He also thanked the management of SM City Legazpi for giving them a free space that could accommodate a big number of job applicants while complying with the health and safety protocol requirements amid the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal, in a separate interview, said the new PESO office located on the 3rd floor of the mall symbolizes the commitment of the city government to give more opportunities to job-seekers in a location that is easily accessible.
“This new BOSS (Business One-Stop Shop)-PESO office is part of the private-public partnership (PPP) scheme that can bring the government closer to the people and give them a convenient venue while they are looking for their job opportunities,” he said.
Rosal said the BOSS-PESO office is considered as Legazpi’s new landmark that will generate more employment for the locals.
He noted that the city government is already practicing online payment, assessment and procedures in the issuance of business permits and real property tax collections as part of the implementation of its “Ease of Doing Business” program and efficient delivery of government services.
“With our partners in the business sector, we can combat and mitigate this prevailing pandemic in order for us to survive,” Rosal said.
SM assistant senior vice president John Jason Terrenal, also in an interview, said the PESO is very important for the business sector as it plays a vital role in selecting its workforce.
He claimed that Legazpi is the first city government in the country to open a PESO inside an SM mall.
SM, Terrenal said, is part of the business component of Legazpi, creating more employment for residents not only of the city but also of nearby municipalities.
“We also gave donations to the city government for the construction of some alternate roads that will ease the traffic in the downtown city of Legazpi,” he told the PNA.
Likewise, Terrenal said the SM City Cinema has been offered to the city government as one of the venues for its vaccination program.
The city government of Legazpi has issued a safety seal to the SM City mall here for its strict compliance with the health and safety protocols in all its stores and premises.
Source: Philippines News Agency
