Barangays are the smallest unit of government. What better way to ensure that job opportunities thrive in the communities than to institutionalize employment facilitation services in the barangays themselves?

That’s exactly what the Barangay Employment Services Offices (BESO) pursue as their mandate – to help each and every jobseeker in the barangay in their search for decent and productive employment.

To date, there are six municipalities and one city in Region 1 that have established their BESOs. They are Bacnotan and Naguilian, in La Union; Alaminos City, Infanta, Mangatarem, Sual and Urbiztondo, in Pangasinan.

This equates to 262 barangays with their own employment facilitation structures.

“These are noble innovations that our Local Government Units in the region undertake, all in the name of public service excellence,” said Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Director Exequiel Ronie A. Guzman.

“While there is no national directive yet to create BESOs, our Public Employment Services Office (PESO) Managers have taken these steps ahead to enhance and elevate their functions on employment facilitation,” RD Guzman added.

But for Mildred Hernandez, PESO Manager of Infanta, the creation of BESOs was more than just to facilitate employment – it empowered barangays and local officials as drivers of social change.

With the full support of the town’s officials, and with Hernandez’s constant prodding, Infanta was the first in the region to have institutionalized BESO via a local legislation.

“Municipal Ordinance No. 02-2021 was passed on March 22, 2021. It was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and yet our Sangguniang Bayan saw the essence of this initiative, hence prioritized for its enactment,” said Hernandez.

The ordinance identified the functions of BESO, among which includes keeping a record of jobseekers in the barangay; identifying job vacancies in establishments in the barangay; posting of available vacancies in conspicuous places in the barangay such as barangay hall, schools, and sari-sari stores.

“We are excited because the BESOs will surely help us discover that there are hundred and more opportunities in the home of the Hundred Islands,” said Eleanor Bruno, PESO Manager of Alaminos City.

The PESO manager said the BESOs were instrumental for a streamlined implementation of key DOLE programs in barangays such as TUPAD, livelihood programs, job fairs, and development programs on child labor, career guidance, and the national skills registry.

Moreover, the BESOs were also key in the strengthening of campaign against illegal recruitment and trafficking-in-person.

“Through their roles now in employment facilitation, barangay officials and volunteers now realize that indeed, they are catalysts of change in their own communities,” said Bruno.

 

Last Updated on February 7, 2023 by Justin Paul Marbella