The Public Employment and Services Office (PESO) has embarked on a diversified approach to generate and facilitate employment and livelihood opportunities for its target beneficiaries throughout the province of Pampanga.
PESO Head Luningning Vergara said that the office has strengthened the provision and facilitation of livelihood and employment opportunities to ensure a more productive and empowered citizenry in the province.
Guided by Governor Lilia G. Pineda’s administration’s thrust of empowering the Capampangans, Vergara said the PESO implemented various plans, programs and activities designed to promote a productive community centered on investment, employment and social protection.
“We are not only promoting jobs, but we are also after the protection of the job seekers themselves,” Vergara stressed.
She said that for the past 11 months, the office provided job search assistance services through job referrals to a total of 4856 local and 3191 overseas job seekers with 3941 and 1167 placements reported.
In addition, the PESO also conducted skills enhancement trainings for 2,315 job seekers during the said period.
Eleven job fairs were also held from July 2010 to May 2011 with 9,477 applicants from the various municipalities of the province assisted while 61 local and provincial recruitment activities were held with 3,208 applicants served.
“We also conducted career coaching among 5,297 students from 24 schools, labor education to 497 graduating students and pre-employment orientation to 8577 beneficiaries to address skills and jobs mismatch and to further educate the job seekers on matters pertaining to the real world of work,” Vergara said.
Meanwhile, 25 livelihood trainings for self-employment were conducted for 1132 individuals while 15 skills enhancement activities were held for 2315 beneficiaries.
Vergara explained that the PESO also undertook several value-added projects to provide maximum employment and livelihood assistance benefits to various target sectors in the province.
Included among these projects are the implementation of the basic literacy program for 40 inmates of the Pampanga provincial jail in line with the Alternative Learning System program of the Department of Education (DepEd); Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) which benefited 537 high school and college student-tutors and 1,500 elementary grade pupils from 20 municipalities; and the Employment Permit System-Training of Proficiency in Korean Language (EPS TOPIK) program with 800 successful job seekers in Korea reported.
The provincial government also recently established seven school-based PESO in the University of the Assumption (UA), Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University (DHVTSU), Guagua National College (GNC), Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC), Holy Angel University (HAU), St. Nicolas College and ACLC-Apalit.
Vergara proudly shared that with its outstanding and exemplary achievements, the province received the National Best PESO Awards for 2009, first class province category in October 2010 and the regional Best PESO Awards, first class province category in February 2011 which rendered Governor Pineda the regional outstanding governor for PESO services. (Pampanga PIO)
