LAOAG CITY — Around 245 students aged 17 and above from the different parts of the province were hired for summer jobs at various departments of the Ilocos Norte government and in some national government agencies and local government units here.
They were deployed to do clerical jobs and provide general assistance to the public as part of the continuing implementation of the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES).
Jointly conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment and the Public Employment and Service Office (PESO), SPES is meant to generate local employment and provide opportunities for students to earn this summer.
“This is big help for our students because they are given the privilege to earn while they learn. At present, some of the SPES do clerical jobs in government offices or assist tourists in museums and other government-owned and managed tourism destinations,” DOLE information officer Janelyn Martin said on Tuesday.
Other students are deployed at the Visitors Assistance Desks set up by the provincial government in key tourist destinations of Ilocos Norte.
Martin said salaries of the SPES beneficiaries are shouldered jointly by the provincial government which covers 60 percent, while DOLE pays the remaining 40 percent of the total salary of each student.
Delia Recaidos, resident of Barangay 34-A Gabu Norte in Laoag City, said she is thankful that her granddaughter Lean Joy Barcellanos was among the hired SPES of the provincial government.
She said this is a rare opportunity for her granddaughter to experience what it is like to work in the corporate world.
Last year, the PESO Ilocos Norte was recognized as the best performing PESO in Region 1 for its contribution in reducing unemployment rate in the province.
Latest record shows that Ilocos Norte’s unemployment rate is down to 4.2 percent, making the province the least poor province among other provinces in Region 1 such as Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan. (Leilanie Adriano/PNA)
