PROVINCES and cities from Central Luzon were recognized in the recently concluded Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) Awards Night in Bacolod City.
According to Department of Labor and Employment in Central Luzon (DOLE-3) Chief Zenaida Angara-Campita, four out of six entries submitted by the region were hailed winners and three of them were enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
The first recipient, Bulacan State University (BulSU), tied with University of Batangas as the Best Job Placement Office among non-government organizations, educational institutions, and community-based organizations.
BulSU was declared a Hall of Famer for bagging the award for the third time in a row, along with the University of Batangas.
Meanwhile, it was a three-way tie for Olongapo City, Valenzuela City, and Cebu City in the highly urbanized city (HUC) category. Together with Valenzuela City, the city of Olongapo was hailed as a Hall of Famer for besting other nominees in the past three straight years.
Another winner from Central Luzon was PESO Mabalacat which placed first in the component city category and was also elevated to the Hall of Fame.
The province of Tarlac, which is distinguished by its remarkable performance on various employment services, triumphed in the first class province category for the second time and will be vying as a Hall of Famer for the same category next year.
PESO Province of Aurora and PESO Talavera, Nueva Ecija also received special citations as top users and advocates of PESO Employment Information System (PEIS) in the third class province and first to second class municipality category, respectively.
“Winning half of the eight categories set by the Bureau of Local Employment is another achievement for our region this year. This feat won’t be possible without the PESOs’ hard work and dedication to champion the implementation of DOLE-initiated employment facilitation programs at the grassroots level. Together with the DOLE provincial field offices and their respective local government units, we were able to build a strong team,” Angara-Campita said.
Other nominees from Central Luzon were PESO Llanera in the third to fourth class municipality category and PESO Lubao in the first to second class municipality category.
All nominees were rated on the following criteria: core services, DOLE programs implemented, institutionalization, awards received, and active involvement.
BulSU, Tarlac, Olongapo, Mabalacat and other national-level winners each received a trophy, a plaque for the PESO and local government unit, and cash incentives.
The awarding ceremony was one of the highlights of the 19th National PESO congress held on October 9 to 11, 2019, which carried the theme, “Sa PESO may Disenteng Trabaho ang Bawat Pilipino.”