98.9 percent. That was the magic number that earned Biñan City, Laguna its third consecutive Best Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Award at the recent 26th National PESO Congress.
This is the third time the city PESO has received the award, having first bagged this distinction in 2023 and 2024.
For Biñan City Mayor Gel Alonte, who personally received the “Hall of Fame” distinction from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. at the National PESO Congress held in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu last October 14, that number is not just a simple statistic.
It represents Biñanenses who are gainfully employed, are providing for their families, and are able to generate even more employment and livelihood opportunities for the “City of Life.”
But what does 98.9 percent refer to, anyway?
According to Biñan City PESO head Romualdo Garcia, that number represents Biñanenses who successfully joined the ranks of the city’s workforce through the efforts of their office.
“’Yang 98.9 percent po ang ating referral rate, o yung mga nag-apply po sa ating tanggapan na nakakuha ng trabaho,” Garcia explained in an interview with OpinYon Laguna.
PESO efforts
Even for a city whose economy depends on the industrial and commercial estates that have sprouted in past decades, ensuring that Biñanenses gain employment is a tough job for the city’s PESO, its head noted.
That it was able to achieve a 98.9-percent referral rate (higher than the national standard of 90 percent) gives the LGU a sense of satisfaction that it was proceeding in the right direction.
So how was the Biñan City PESO able to achieve this?
For Garcia, PESO is more than a simple state-run recruitment agency.
“May three core functions po ang ating PESO: referral and placement, labor marketing formation, and career development and support," he elaborated.
In the field of referral and placement, the PESO head emphasized that their job is not simply to refer job applicants to employers.
“Hindi po sapat na nag-refer lang po tayo; kailangan po, hired po ang ating mga ni-refer,” was how Garcia put it.
One of the ways they achieve this, he explained, was by creating a database of job applicants which they use to “match” them to companies that best suits their needs and skills.
The database was collected through the efforts of the city’s barangay employment service offices (BESO) which also gathers information on their own job applicants and then refer them to the city PESO.
“That way po, naipapasok po namin sila sa mga company na swak yung skills nila, at masisigurado po natin na matatanggap talaga sila.”
Skills development training
But more than simply “matching” companies and job applicants, Garcia sees his job as PESO head as also creating the demand for the skills and talents private companies in Biñan City need.
“Ang ginagawa po natin sa kanila is, nire-ready natin ang ating mga aplikante para maging qualified sila,” he poined out.
This they were able to achieve through skills development training for prospective employees who have been “pre-registered” with their office but still lack the skills that companies need or are in demand.
“Nakikipagtulungan po kami sa TESDA [Technical Education and Skills Development Authority] para mabigyan po ng scholarship ang ating mga pre-registered na job applicants,” the PESO head shared.
Labor market
The Biñan City PESO also conducts intensive studies on the nature of the labor market not only in the city itself but also in the Calabarzon region and surrounding areas, Garcia said.
This way, the local office is able to gauge the job market and steer applicants more efficiently to the job that best matches their skills.
“Kinukuha po natin yung mga statistics ng ating job market: for example, ilan po yung nangangailangan ng cashier, ng production staff, ng machine operator, ng call-center staff,” he explained.
“Tinitingnan po natin kung ano po yung mga trabaho na in-demand dito sa Biñan at maging sa rehiyon, at doon po natin ini-inform ang ating mga aplikante sa kung saan po sila pwedeng mag-apply.”
The same approach goes for PESO’s specialized programs, including its efforts to provide persons with disabilities (PWDs), senior citizens and returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) employment opportunities.
The city government was also able to use the reach of its in-house radio station, Radyo Biñan, as well as through its in-house mobile app, to enable faster access to prospective employment opportunities.
To prepare the city’s youth for the demands of the job market, the Biñan City PESO conducts seminars among the city’s senior high school students, as well as tapping the recently-established GEL Young Leaders and Athletes Academy for their efforts.
‘Lahat, mae-employ’
While 98.9 percent is already an impressive number, Garcia emphasized that the main mission of the Biñan City PESO is to ensure that every Biñanense, “basta masipag at matalino,” will gain employment.
“Ang lagi po nating sinasabi dito sa ating staff dito is, never ever say to our job applicants that they are no longer qualified to have a job. We will help them sa abot ng ating makakaya; kung hindi man po natin maabot ang 100-percent na referral rate, sinisigurado po natin na lahat po ng sektor ng lipunan na nangangailangan ng trabaho ay ating tutulungan.”
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