The Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office No. III (DOLE-III), together with the Public Employment Service Office Managers Federation of Central Luzon (PESO-CL), conducted its 2022 Year-End Performance Assessment and 2023 Planning Workshop at Royce Hotel, Clark on March 20-22, 2023. 

Said event included a discussion of previous year accomplishments and ongoing targets for 2023, capacity-building sessions, and a recognition ceremony for PESOs whose performance ‘illuminated’ in 2023.

In a video-recorded message, DOLE-III Regional Director Geraldine Panlilio thanked all PESOs in Central Luzon for being instrumental in the implementation of DOLE’s employment programs. “We are really grateful to all PESOs for helping us in the realization of our vision. Your efforts and accomplishments are never unseen,” Panlilio said.

RD Panlilio also shared some of the changes to look forward to in some employment facilitation programs and other convergence programs where PESOs will be tapped by the Department. Amongst these are the Technical Advisory Visit (TAV) that primarily focuses on the compliance of MSMEs and the revised implementing guidelines of the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP). 

Meanwhile, Labor and Employment Officer (LEO) III Lyka Serrano reported the various accomplishments of PESOs for 2022. According to her report, 20,588 students benefitted from SPES while 3,728 interns were assisted through GIP. 7,303 individuals in Region 3 were also provided with livelihood assistance in the form of NegoKarts, bigasan, grocery / sari-sari store packages, FreeBis, and more. 

In addition, DOLE’s temporary wage employment program TUPAD covered a total of 416,733 beneficiaries in Central Luzon for 2022. 96% or 94,328 jobseekers out of 98,122 referred qualified jobseekers were also successfully placed to hiring establishments in 2022.

Also, in recognition to local government units (LGUs) that went above and beyond in being partners of the Department in the implementation of its programs, 8 LGUs were conferred the following awards:

• Best PESO (4th – 6th Class Municipality category) – Llanera, Nueva Ecija

• Best PESO (1st Class Municipality category) – Talavera, Nueva Ecija (1st place) and Baliuag, Bulacan (2nd place)

• Best PESO (Component City category) – Tarlac City (1st place) and City of San Jose Del Monte (2nd place)

• Best PESO (3rd to 5th Class Province category) – Aurora

• Best PESO (1st Class Province category) – Bataan (1st place) and Nueva Ecija (2nd place)

All cited ‘Best PESOs’ comprise the official regional entries of Central Luzon in the upcoming National Search for Best PESO in October. 

Aside from this, DOLE-III also awarded the top-performing PESOs based on their accomplishments as reflected in the PESO Employment Information System (PEIS), a database of job applicants, job vacancies, and their referral and placement. The awardees are Dilasag, Aurora; Orion, Bataan; Cabanatuan City, Science City of Munoz, and Talavera, Nueva Ecija; City of San Fernando and Floridablanca in Pampanga; Pura and Tarlac Provincial PESO in Tarlac; and lastly, San Marcelino in Zambales.

DOLE Pampanga (1st place), Bataan (2nd place), and Tarlac (3rd place), together with their provincial PESO counterparts, were also awarded as the 2022 Best in SPRS, the Department’s reporting and monitoring system. 

In his message during the awarding ceremony, Assistant Regional Director Alejandro Inza Cruz congratulated all winners and reminded PESOs on how they can qualify for the said national competition. “No matter how functional PESOs are, we cannot disregard our monitoring and reporting systems– through PEIS and SPRS,” he added. 

The 3-day activity included a learning session on General Labor Standards (GLS) and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) discussed by Chief Labor and Employment Officer Maria Rima Hernandez while productivity and worker engagement were tackled by Supervising LEO Amelia Kakazu and LEO III Francis Michael Atangan of NWPC.##

END/ A. Cunanan