It was a collective victory for Biñan City Public Employment Service Office after winning the Bayanihan Service Award on 25 October 2022. The office attributes the successful employment facilitation efforts to the empowerment of its Barangay Employment Service Units. What a great way to showcase the Bayanihan tradition!
DOLE Laguna Provincial Director Guido R. Recio recognizes the inclusive grassroots approach of the Biñan City PESO as a partner-implementer of DOLE's employment and welfare programs and services with the help of its 24 BESUs.
From volunteer barangay workers, the BESUs gradually became full-time frontliners delivering the full bundle of employment services at the community level through the initiative of the local PESO.
Mr. Romualdo A. Garcia, the head of the office, could still recall when BESUs started. The barangay counterparts were first staffed by volunteers rendering pro bono services. Then, a resolution provided staffers an honorarium amounting to Php3,000.00 each. They became Job Order personnel through an ordinance enacted by the city.
The Biñan City PESO understands the significant role played by every BESU worker in the barangay as a headhunter, encoder, and general frontliner in promoting key employment services. Each worker has been trained to provide immediate employment facilitation services to the community's residents. The PESO would recognize top-performing BESUs during the flag-raising ceremony.
With the BESUs, the local PESO has been instrumental in bringing jobs at a critical time when the pandemic hit. Out of 174 residents left with no jobs, the office was able to give temporary employment to 157 of them through the City of Biñan Employment Assistance Program. The initiative provides emergency employment for three months to the displaced workers.
The office likewise opened its doors to differently-abled persons by offering financial assistance program. Of the 260 persons with disabilities in the city, 251 were enrolled to clean their surroundings in exchange for cash. In the same way, this program also accommodated OFW returnees.
The local PESO's technical team has also been relentlessly looking for ways to bring employment facilitation services closer to the people of Biñan. Anyone can access jobs, file a complaint, check the registry, and request a referral letter through its latest innovation, called the Biñan PESO Mobile Application.
Thanks to the mobile app, the PESO strengthened its employment facilitation service. The office achieved a 98.99% placement rate in 2021 and a 92.72% vacancy solicitation rate. As this innovation reaches more applicants and employers, there is a good chance that the numbers will spike further.
Amid all these, DOLE Laguna's Senior Labor and Employment Officer and employment focal, Ms. Daisy G. Ramos, has been closely coordinating with the PESO to provide technical assistance in the reportorial requirements and delivery of employment services.
For the year 2022, the Biñan City PESO was again commended by the DOLE IV-A for its accomplishment in career advocacy and employment coaching, employment facilitation, labor market information, PESO Employment and Information System, and referral and placement of qualified job seekers with a special citation for its assistance given to PWDs.
Regional Director Atty. Ma. Karina B. Perida-Trayvilla, through Assistant Regional Director Atty. Nepomuceno A. Leaño II, conferred the plaques of recognition as part of the regional office's tradition of commending excellence in implementing employment programs and services.
Yet this is only the beginning for the Biñan City PESO as it continuously strives for excellence with a vision in mind, eloquently relayed by its head, Mr. Garcia, that [perhaps in the future], "the PESO will be the local counterpart of DOLE." And like how it was able to build its 24-strong BESUs, the local PESO is likely to take a step at a time in reaching this end.
by:
RUDYBOY R. SINAY
Labor Information Officer
