The Institute for Labor Studies hosted the Department of Labor and Employment’s flag raising ceremony last June 15, 2015 at the Labor Governance Learning Center in Intramuros, Manila. The event was attended by DOLE Assistant Secretary Ma. Gloria Tango and key officials, with ILS Executive Director Mary Grace Riguer.

Taking off from the country’s 117th year of Philippine Independence celebration, Executive Director Mary Grace Riguer welcomed the employees. “Many of our heroes are writers and as the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword and the best embodiment of that will be our National Hero Jose Rizal.” She stressed that much like Rizal, most of the ILS employees are writers, true to its mandate of providing research and technical services to the DOLE and its attached agencies and bureaus, and informing government’s policy decision processes on labor and employment.

Asec. Ma. Gloria Tango commended everyone’s dedication to the job as the second quarter comes to a close and urged everyone to continue their efforts as DOLE prepares for its midyear performance assessment, which will happen by the last week of July.

Asec. Tango emphasized that the Cabinet Secretary strictly monitors budget accountabilities, and that DOLE should be knowledgeable about fund utilization and work performance.

“Lagi nating tandaan na sa bawat kwento ay may kwenta, at sa bawat kwenta ay may kwento. We need to ensure that our physical accomplishments complement our financial accomplishments in line with the targets that we need to meet. As employees of DOLE, we must be flexible to work within the time that is given to us for accomplishment of our tasks.”

Asec. Tango also provided updates with respect to the progress of ILS and DOLE, toward ISO certification and she expressed hope that, before the end of the year, DOLE would have already been proudly ISO-certified.

“With the certification, we have a corresponding responsibility to see to it that we as a Department, would be able to sustain the efforts that we have done with our own processes. Our DOLE Integrity Pledge encourages us to adopt the practice of continual process improvement toward efficient and effective delivery of services.”

Asec. Tango closed her message by saying that DOLE employees should always aim to serve their clients fully. “Even though there maybe times that we are unable to address their problems immediately, fully and all at one time, at maganda ang pakitungo natin sa  kanila, they will be left with a good impression about the services of the Department of Labor and Employment. The bottom line is that we always look at how satisfied the customer is.”

The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) is the policy research and advocacy arm of the Department of Labor and Employment. For more information on this story, please contact the Advocacy and Publications Division at 527-3490.