BACOLOD City –”Decent and humane jobs especially for the Filipino poor” was the main theme of this year’s 19th National Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Congress.
The two-day DOLE’s annual gathering of PESO Managers at the SMX Convention Center ofSM City Bacolod from October 9-11, 2019 gathered an approximate of 1,500 PESO Managers, Local Chief Executives, Local Government Officials, Job Placement Officers, and DOLE officials and staff from all over the country.
In a welcome message delivered by Bacolod City Administrator John O. Orola, Mayor Evelio “Bing” R. Leonardiasaid that the event is very timely since one of the City’s goals is to extend training programs and employment opportunities to its constituents through the assistance of DOLE.
Bacolod, a highly urbanized city, has been identified as one of the emerging cities in the Philippines nesting thousands of job opportunities due to the influx of investments therein.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose V. Lacson, on the other hand, said that the government should focus more on providing not an economically advantageous jobs but more so decent, humane and lucrative employment for all Filipinos.
“Our thrust should be to provide magnet for new jobs so that our fellow Filipinos will no longer have reasons to go abroad, and the Province of Negros Occidental commits to give our full support to our PESOs and JPOs for us to achieve this goal”, Lacson said.
Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Legal CounselSalvador S. Panelo keynoted the congress.
Panelo said that the National PESO Congress has always been a venue to foster learning and exchange best practices to achieve the goal of providing decent employment for all.
“Our present Administration is very delightful and proud that our country’s unemployment rate has been since decreasing due to the continuous generation of job opportunities in our midst. However, our President is gearing further towards regularization of workers, which includes ensuring safe and healthy workplaces for them,” he said.
The first day of the event also included the awarding of Best Performing PESOs on the different categories where PESO Guimaras bagged the National Award for Best Provincial PESO for the 3rd to 5th class category.
The National PESO Congress is an annual activity spearheaded by the PESO Managers Association of the Philippines (PESOMAP) together with DOLE-Bureau of Local Employment.(DV Agreda)
