Quezon City – “Binigyan kayo ng opportunity, ‘wag sasayangin.”  Executive Director Maria Teresita D. Lacsamana-Cancio opened the training course with a firm reminder addressed to the Board’s Single-Entry Assistance Officers (SEADOs), inculcating their responsibility to upskill in order to better serve the Board’s clientele. 

The National Conciliation and Mediation Board gathered its SEADOs for the annual capacity-building activity, held from 06 to 08 September 2023 at The B Hotel, 14 Scout Rallos Street, Quezon City.

The training course primarily aimed to reinforce relevant knowledge on handling labor complaints and imbibe the best practices in handling requests for assistance (RFAs). For the entirety of the training course, the Board invited its homegrown talents to revisit the important concepts, and share practical approaches, not only in handling the complaints, but also in maintaining good rapport with the parties involved. 

Atty. Kim Marie Roque-Aquino, OIC-Director for Technical Services, led the discussions on the common issues received through the Single-Entry Approach (SEnA) Program and related jurisprudence. The second day of the course was dedicated to workshops on enhancing skills necessary for effective handling of RFAs. Workshops on data gathering and probing were facilitated by Conciliator-Mediator Othello Tongio, Jr. while the sharing on practical approaches was covered by OIC-Director Oliver Jao. A session on building professional social relationships with stakeholders was delivered by Director Aerrine Marie Reyes culminating the three-day training.

Conciliation and Mediation Division Chief Ericson Igual expressed his hope that the participants were able to learn additional knowledge and skills that they could utilize in handling labor complaints brought to their respective offices. He concluded his message with a piece of advice, “Bilin lang, mahalin niyo ang trabaho ninyo dahil nakakatulong tayo sa kapwa natin.” 

The Single-Entry Approach (SEnA) Program is the Department of Labor and Employment’s initiative aiming to provide a speedy, impartial, inexpensive, and accessible conciliation-mediation procedure for settling labor and employment concerns. Aggrieved workers and employers may avail of the service at the DOLE Regional Offices and Attached Agencies, including NCMB. 

For more information about this article and the SEnA Program, you may email cmd_co@ncmb.gov.ph or call (02) 8252-6262 local 747. 

END/ Eloisa Aquino