LEGAZPI CITY -- Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello III has commended Legazpi as a model city in the implementation of the JobStart program.
Bello issued the statement as he witnessed the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the city government and business establishments for the program's continuation benefiting a second batch of young Legazpi residents Thursday.
With Bello were Legazpi City Mayor Noel E. Rosal, Governor Al Francis Bichara, Albay 3rd District Rep. Fernando Gonzales and Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda, AKO BICOL Partylist Rep. Alfredo Garbin and other DOLE officials.
DOLE-Bicol Regional Director Exequiel Sarcanga together with Ara Rivera, representative of Casablanca Hotel; Jeniel Perez of Mang Inasal; Francia Galapate of Sunwest Corporation; Santi San Pablo of Sutherland and Elizabeth Tan of Tanvera Corporation signed the MOA at the DOLE regional office.
Rosal, for his part, said the JobStart start program is one way of enhancing the knowledge and skills of the jobseekers in the provincial areas in order for them to get decent jobs. It will also eventually help in decongesting Metro Manila, he added.
Legazpi City Public Employment Services Office (PESO) Manager Diosdado Raneses said there were 207 beneficiaries of the program when they first implemented it, mostly out-of-school youth and college students who were already hired as employees by different business establishments in this city.
He said that these beneficiaries underwent seminars and interactive life skills and technical vocational trainings.
Raneses said that his office is now starting to recruit possible beneficiaries for the second batch, where at least 200 slots are available. The orientation will start in May, he added.
He noted that JobStart is one of the programs of the DOLE that aims to give young Filipinos, especially the poor and out-of-school-youth, an opportunity for employment to uplift their daily living condition.
The JobStart is an employment facilitation initiative of the DOLE with funding support from the Canadian Government and technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank to help young Filipinos start their careers and get better employment opportunities.
The program aims to enhance the knowledge and skills acquired by the job seekers in formal education or technical training in order for them to become more responsive to the demands of the labor market. (PNA)
