Legarda Sees Better Employment with Passage of Amended PESO Act

Senator Loren Legarda today said the enactment of the amended Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) Act is a huge leap in addressing the long-drawn issues of unemployment and underemployment in the country.

Legarda, co-author of R.A. 8759 or the PESO Act of 1999 and its amended version, stressed that PESOs will help make the transition period between graduation and employment much shorter with a wide range of career options.

“Public Employment Service Offices, which every local government unit (LGU) must have, serve as information centers where job seekers especially in rural areas can ask about available employment opportunities and services offered by the Department of Labor and Employment and other labor-related agencies,” she explained.

A study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) shows that college graduates in the Philippines typically take 1 to 2 years on the average to find regular employment while high school graduates would take 3 to 4 years to land a regular job.

The amendments to the PESO Act include the creation of permanent plantilla positions for PESO personnel, funding of PESOs through LGUs’ internal revenue allotment, and improvement of labor market information and employment facilitation service through computerized systems of monitoring, coordination, and reporting.

Legarda said that with these amendments, PESO officers should be able to take a more proactive role of being local employment policy advisers, employment creation managers, and training managers.

“The amended PESO Act is vital in ensuring that employment creation initiatives are matched with local training programs and livelihood activities, and avoiding mismatches which greatly contribute to high unemployment rates,” said Legarda.