140 PESO managers and staff join EST Plus

140 PESO managers and staff from CALABARZON joined the Employment Services Training (EST) Plus which was organized by DOLE-Batangas and Batangas Provincial Federation of PESO Managers, Inc. and was held via Zoom on March 3-4, 2021.

“This EST Plus is not a mere refresher course. We are giving the attendees additional information and additional updates, not only in the way we perform as PESO but also in the way we act as public servants. Naniniwala kami na dapat walang naiiwan pagdating sa karunungan,” said Dir. Predelma M. Tan in her keynote message.

Interesting Topics and Competent Speakers

For the two-day sessions, Mr. Jorge Manuel Laude, RPm, MPAf discussed Employment Services in the Philippines. He highlighted the country’s employment framework and the important role of Public Employment Services Office (PESO) in it.

That was supplemented by the points of Ms. Ma. Iris Prieto-Perez on Appreciating Labor Market Information (LMI). She said that LMI is in fact the “heart and soul” of PESO because without it, the office cannot effectively and efficiently function. She added that it is the Department’s aim that all cities and municipalities will have their own localized LMI and that will start with scientific data gathering.

On Improving Public Governance in the New Normal, Atty. Ramel Muria, LL.M., Ph.D. said that it is it the role of the government “to promote the happiness of the people and dispense justice.” He further mentioned that “certain institutional and personal requirements are necessary to forge or maintain balance among competing values in governance.”

On that line, he challenged the PESO managers and staff, “We should foster mutual help among the members. Be a community, not just a mere organization.”

Atty. Jellie M. Molino, EMBA, LL.M., Ph.D., a former SPES beneficiary, also shared her own expertise in strengthening public governance, given her background in international organizations like the United Nations and OECD. She cited that the basic requirement to do it is to have sound policies that will enable change. She also highlighted that it is important for PESOs to align their goals and activities to the national and international perspectives.

“On a personal level, maganda na tanungin natin ang mga sarili natin: how can I be a PESO champion? Being a champion is not equivalent to being recognized; being a champion is making an impact on the lives of the people we meet,” Atty. Molino said.

The recorded videos of the discussions can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/NrAzUYHE0gk and https://youtu.be/2NPKnOc-518.

Active Participants

After each session, the PESO managers and staff raised their commendations and queries. Some of them are:

"Salamat DOLE-Batangas dahil naka-attend kami ng ganitong seminar. Minsan lang namin ito maranasan. Ang saya po pala at ang dami kong natutunan.”

“We’ve learned a lot from all the speakers and the topics were very interesting and commendable. Thank you to Sir JM, Mam Iris, Atty. Muria and Atty. Molino for sharing your knowledge.”

“Siksik, liglig at umaapaw po ang mga discussions.”

“Ang linaw at ang galling.”

The whole forum wall can be viewed here: www.tinyurl.com/ESTPLUS.