Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will conduct meetings with employers’ groups in the coming days to discuss their concerns.

On Friday, he received the DOLE flag and the Labor and Employment Plan 2022-2028 from his predecessor, Silvestre Bello III, at the Labor Governance and Learning Center of the department’s Blas F. Ople Hall in Intramuros, Manila.

Laguesma also met with other officials during his first day in office and interacted with employees with whom he discussed such issues as wage increase and job security.

“I also talked to the regional directors and we had discussions about issues and concerns that have also been conveyed to me by representatives of various workers groups,” he said in an interview. “In the coming week, I am scheduled to interact with groups of employers so that I can listen to them to find out what they have to say or do.”

Bello will head the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the new DOLE chief to pursue more programs for the labor sector and continue implementing those done under Bello’s term.

Bello said the DOLE is in good hands under Laguesma, who was also DOLE secretary in 1998 to 2001 under the Estrada administration and started his public service career as a mediator-arbiter at the former Department of Labor in 1976.

“Your fresh mandate to steer the DOLE once more signifies the continuity of the noble initiatives that we have undertaken for the Filipino workers and the people,” he said. (PNA)