For the second time in a row, Pampanga’s Public Employment and Services Office (PESO) bags the 2011 national championship award as the best PESO for first class province category with Governor Lilia G. Pineda as the outstanding local chief executive on PESO services throughout the country.
This was disclosed by Luningning Vergara, PESO Pampanga head, who received the awards in the recently concluded three-day 11th National PESO Congress at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City.
Vergara attributed the province’s winning the much-coveted award to key factors – the full support of and effective working relationship with municipal-based PESO coordinators in the province, Governor Lilia G. Pineda’s administration, and PESO’s partner agencies – Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Bureau of Labor and Employment (BLE).
“Our working relationship with our partners from the regional down to the provincial and municipal levels with PESO coordinators and government agencies is not merely inter-office but more of an interrelation between and among family members.”
Vergara said that her office and staff are able to deliver the needed public employment services because of these groups. Governor Pineda is like a true, caring mother or “Nanay” who provides all the necessary support and assistance.
She also acknowledged the support of the Federation of PESO Managers in Region III.
“We also take pride in our being innovative as in the case of our Kabaryu ku,Tutor Ku, a special program for the employment of students wherein qualified high school and college students provided tutorial lessons to slow learners during summer vacation.”
The provincial PESO head also happily shared that Angeles City and the City of San Fernando respectively won the first place in the highly urbanized and component cities category.
She likewise mentioned that Senator Koko Pimentel who attended the said national congress has committed to sponsor a bill for the institutionalization of PESO at the provincial and municipal levels.
Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla, Jr. have also expressed their support for the said proposal.
The provincial PESO received a trophy and cash prize of P50,000 which Vergara plans to share with the provincial staff, municipal-based PESO and partner agencies as she did when the office won the same award last year.
Vergara also gets to share the province’s best practices on the implementation of PESO programs and services as she has received invitations from her provincial counterparts in Zambales, Aurora, Bataan and Bulacan to talk on her office’s experiences.
As early as now, the provincial PESO is setting its sights on next year’s annual event which hopefully would earn for the province the national championship and at the same time the hall of fame award.
Criteria used in the evaluation for the said national award are impact of performance and achievement which include core services and programs of DOLE, 80 %; recipient of awards from prestigious institutions, 10%; and leadership in any prestigious organization with contribution to employment, 10%.
“We remain committed to persistently adopt innovation to accommodate the changes brought about by progress as we our guided by the motto ‘Agnan-agnan, Alang Pailakwan’, ” Vergara stressed. (Pampanga PIO)
