Lapu-Lapu PESO gets Bayanihan Service  Award

CEBU, Philippines —  The Lapu-Lapu City Public Employment Service Office (PESO) was given the Secretary’s Award for Bayanihan Service during the recent 21st National PESO Congress. 

The city’s PESO was chosen as a national finalist in its category in the region and the only awardee among the highly competitive “Highly Urbanized City” category in Central Visayas.

PESO manager Kim Francisco thanked Mayor Junard Chan for his support as well as to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officials and PESO stakeholders.

The awarding was held virtually during the fourth quarter of last year. However, the plaque and the P20,000 cash prize were only received by Francisco last  Wednesday.

According to the city’s Public Information Office, the recognition is for PESO’s invaluable activities during the lockdown from March to December 2020 and for its invaluable contributions and employment facilitation efforts during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

 Francisco said there were three criteria for judging---Resilience, Humanitarian and Innovation.

 As for resilience, PESO assisted the mayor in conducting a special audit inspection of PEZA locators prior to the issuance of the mayor’s special permit to operate a 30% skeletal workforce of companies during the lockdown.

During the lockdown, Francisco said, he and Chan visited urban poor communities to inform the people the services the city can offer to help them through job referrals and recommendations.

For those that lack the needed skills, PESO’s innovative approach provided technical skills training by conducting livelihood training through the Lapu-Lapu City Cooperative and Livelihood Resource Center (LCLRC) in partnership with the Office of the Mayor, DOLE and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).        

The  “Libreng Livelihood Training” is part of the Chan administration’s program of “Panginabuhian Para sa mga Oponganon”.

For their humanitarian practices, PESO solicited donations from PEZA locators and companies and assisted the mayor in conducting pandemic donation drives to poor communities caught in lockdowns.

They also sought donations for quarantine and isolation facilities at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. — FPL (FREEMAN)