In coordination with its partner agencies in implementing Mission Rebooting Activities through Community Engagements (RACE), the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) successfully held a four-day orientation for its program implementers from 8 – 11 June 2021 via Zoom video conferencing. The orientation for Local Healthy Economic Recovery Officers (HEROs) and HERO Supports included representatives from different DOLE Regional Offices.
The activity apprised attendees with the particulars of the different programs of partner agencies that are lodged under Mission RACE. As the program is to be piloted in 274 LGUs with 5,366 barangays across the country, the training included instructions on survey and profiling of prospective beneficiaries of the program as well as the encoding of data to be gathered by the HEROs hired under the Government Internship Program.
In her opening remarks, Labor Assistant Secretary and Concurrent BLE Director Dominique Rubia-Tutay commended the participants for having the courage to accept the challenge of rebooting our economic activities through community engagements despite the risks and vulnerabilities posed by the ongoing pandemic.
To ensure high quality information dissemination on the ground level, speakers from different partner agencies were invited to explain to the participants the aspects of their programs.
From the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC), Maria Lourdes Garcia discussed the livelihood programs offered under the Mission RACE. Likewise, Alvin Garcia of the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) talked about the different benefits that a worker who suffers from work-related accident or sickness, including COVID-19, could get from their office.
During the first day of the orientation OIC-Director Roel Martin of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) explained to the participants the different reintegration programs and services offered to returning OFWs geared towards their specific needs, goals, interests, potentials and capacities. In the succeeding batches of the orientation, Geronico Herrera, Chief of Workers Reintegration Technical Support Division of the Center, took over the discussion.
Since Mission RACE also covers private establishments, Maria Rosa D. Opis of the National Wages Productivity Commission (NWPC) talked about the Productivity Toolbox which offers different productivity trainings to interested enterprises. Lastly, Executive Director Rosalina S. Constantino of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Planning Office shared the different TESDA programs available to support the implementation of Mission RACE.
Mission RACE is a government initiative in line with the National Economic Recovery Strategy (NERS), the country’s recovery plan for the pandemic-struck labor market. The program seeks to reboot economic activities in the form of sustainable livelihood trainings and profiling of labor market situations in the locality to identify necessary interventions. The profiling of prospective beneficiaries will run from June to December 2021. Its implementation is being spearheaded by BLE, in partnership with the BWSC, ECC, NWPC, NRCO, and TESDA.
END/TOliva/11 June 2021