DOLE-Batangas facilitates refresher course on MER and SPES

DOLE-Batangas refreshed 43 PESO managers and staff regarding the protocols of Monthly Employment Report (MER) and Special Program for the Employment of Students last April 19 via Zoom.

“Maraming pagbabago ang naidulot ng pandemic. Kaya naman napakahalaga na we are still at the same page. Kailangan na iisa ang understanding, operation and implementation natin ng MER and SPES,” Dir. Predelma M. Tan of DOLE-Batangas said.

She explained that the data from the MER become basis for policies and programs. For that reason, she reminded PESOs to properly process the “raw ingredients” at their level because whatever alteration on those will have an impact on the “bigger whole.”

Dr. Karl Joseph D. Sanmocte who served as the facilitator of the refresher course agreed with Dir. Tan.

He said, “Minsan, sa sobrang busy, may temptation sa PESO na magpasa maski kulang. Minsan, sa sobrang busy, may temptation na wag na muna magpasa. But you see, these actions, if not triumphed, will affect our delivery of services. Kaya yung truthfulness, completeness and timeliness ng MER, essential talaga.”

Attendees discussed among themselves their best practices so that they can comply accordingly to the requirements of MER. From frontline forms to data cleansing and from encoding to information generation, PESO managers and staff agreed to have standard ways of doing things.

On SPES, Dr. Sanmocte clarified the latest pronouncements from the Secretary and from the IATF. He reiterated that, considering the pandemic, SPES partners should balance the safety of the SPES beneficiaries without sacrificing the intentions of the program.

Ms. Rose Lyn Cabrera-Francisco, President of Batangas Federation of PESO Managers, Inc. and Sto. Tomas City PESO Manager, assured DOLE that Batangas PESOs—especially the 2021 SPES implementers—shall remain committed towards improving the way SPES is handled.

“Maraming challenges sa implementation this year. But we are not backing out in the face of the giants. Instead, magpapatuloy po kami dahil ang sandata namin na pagmamahal sa aming mga kababayan ay mas malaki kaysa sa anumang pandemya,” she said.