By Zen Trinidad
CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, July 8 (PNA) — The officers and members of Calamba City Employment and Human Resource Development Council (CEHRDC) took their oath of office on Tuesday (July 7) before Laguna 2nd District Representative Joaquin M. Chipeco, Jr. as inducting officer in this city.
Peter Capitan, head of the City Information, Investment Promotions and Employment Services Office (CIIPESO), said the council is the product of the Employment Summit held in 2014 upon the instruction of Mayor Justin Marc SB Chipeco to enable the city to effectively respond to the challenges of the ASEAN Economic Integration (AEI) and global competitiveness.
”The council is an example of private-public partnership where various stakeholders in business, academe, non government organizations, the city government and national agencies work together toward a common goal that is to provide decent jobs to people,” Capitan said. “They talk, they plan, and they implement programs,” he added.
The council gained its ground through Executive Order No.14-31 signed by Mayor Chipeco on December 16, 2014 and amended by Executive Order No. 15-14 signed on July 6, 2015 given the task of formulating, implementing and monitoring programs and projects that will enable the city to effectively respond to the challenges of the ASEAN Economic Integration (AEI).
Mayor Justin Chipeco is the chairperson of CEHRDC while Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Laguna Provincial Director Milagros R. Mata is the vice chairperson with members coming from various sectors such as Assistant City Administrator Larissa Malinao, City Planning and Development Officer Dennis Lanzanas, City Cooperative and Livelihood Officer Leonardo Opulencia, City Agriculturist Eufrocino Guerrero, Peter Capitan of IIPESO and Councilor Santiago, Chairperson of the Committee on Labor and Employment, Agriculture, Cooperative and Livelihood of the City Council representing the Local Government.
Likewise, representing the academe are Dr. Lourdes Bermudez, PhD – Department of Education (DepEd) Calamba, Rodolfo Sta. Ana III – Dualtech Center, Ivan Ray Ancero-Don Bosco Calamba, Dr. Phoebe Sese, PhD – president of City College of Calamba, Leonardo Dela Cruz-Calamba Manpower Development Center, Evelyn Oliveros – president, Calamba Private School Administrators’ Association (CAPRISAA) and Cynthia Meneses – Saint John Colleges.
Representing the business sector are Virgilio Lorenzo-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI) Laguna, Melanie Elizondo-Calamba Banker’s Club, Maria Odessa Galicia-SM Supermalls, Jojo Saplala-Ayala Land, Donna Sullano, Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines and Analyn Brillantes-Calamba Medical Center.
Government agencies are also represented by National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director Luis G. Banua – Calabarzon Region, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Laguna Provincial Director Susan R. Palo, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Laguna Provincial Director Pascual Arriola and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Laguna Provincial Director Engineer Samuel L. Caperina.
Moreover, the non-government organizations (NGOs) are represented by Exequil Aguilar, Jr. – Rotary Club of Calamba, Cecilio A. Alano – ICCP Group Foundation and Dr. Agnes Fenix M.D., – Calamba Medical Society while Ernesto Bihis is the Labor Consultant.
Vice Mayor Roseller “Ross” Rizal in his message read by Attorney Angelita B. Alonso likened AEI to “a stone that is hard to hit but definitely not a punch in the air. It is achievable, however, the real challenge for the City Government of Calamba is to prepare the roads that should lead to public-private partnership.”
Amid the challenges, the vice mayor expressed his strong belief “that the competent and committed members of the council are the mind, heart and arms of the city in realizing the goals of the ASEAN Economic Integration a reality.”
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Calabarzon Regional Director Zenaida Angara-Campita commended the initiative of the city government for a focused group such is the council working on the employment situations where it used to be a “movement of natural persons” but now a “movement of skilled manpower” thus it is ”important to prepare” the manpower of the city for the AEI.
Mayor Justin SB Chipeco said that “Calamba is a leading progressive city in the country” and it is but fitting and proper that it “will not lag behind in business and trading in the ASEAN Region and global competitiveness.”
Meanwhile, Representative Joaquin M. Chipeco, Jr.- one of the principal authors of Republic Act No. 8759 otherwise known as the “Public Employment Service Office Act of 1999”- congratulated the officers and members of the council and recognized the vital role it will play in the mandate of the city government towards employment.
”You perform an invaluable role in overseeing the attainment of the city government’s mandate of generating jobs and ensuring quality of work for everyone,” Rep. Chipeco said.
He reminded the council of the catch-phrases such as ‘sustainable development’, ‘inclusive growth’ and ‘resiliency’ which have become the mantras in the global scenario. However, he focused on ‘inclusive growth’ being defined in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016 where “job generation is the central concept for sustained growth” in the light of the improved Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for a country once described as a “sick man in Asia” but now carrying the title of “strong man in Asia.”
Rep. Chipeco further reminded the council of their role in the development of human resources in the city against persistent problems of job mismatch and underemployment.
“You are supposed to address not only the problem of job creation which corresponds to the word employment. In the name of your council…you are to pursue human resource development, that is, you are to address also vicious skills and jobs matching and the persistent concerns about underemployment,” he stressed.
After the closing ceremony, Ruth Hernandez, City Councilor and wife of Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez, congratulated Peter Capitan and the IIPESO staff for a magnificent job and commented that “this council should be replicated in the whole province.”
Also present at the induction ceremony were village (barangay) chiefs and staff of villages with active Barangay Employment Service Office (BESO) under the coordination of IIPESO and DOLE.(PNA)