New Labor Attache Values Skills Training, Hard Work
DUBAI: The newly designated Labor Attache for Dubai and Northern Emirates, is an example of a public servant who has proven that there is growth in government service.
LabAtt Ofelia B. Domingo began working as records clerk at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in 1979, two years after she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from the Lyceum of the Philippines.
Domingo’s first executive position was in 1987, as Executive Assistant, at the Office of the Deputy Administrator in POEA. She obtained her master’s degree in Public Administration in 1998, which helped catapult her career to a key position as Chief of the Employment Promotion Division at the DOLE Regional Office XIl. She held the post for a little over eight years, before she was entrusted with a directorship position in 2008.
Seeking to set a good example in the workplace, the new POLO head wanted to inspire the new breed of workers to continue learning and to value their work.
“Your success is for you to be employable. Job security is not the job itself but your being employable; when you are equipping yourself with all the skills and knowledge. Sometimes there are others who take up training and seminar but they don’t apply the skills and knowledge they gained. What’s the use? You have to apply it. They needed to be translated into action,” she said.
She also emphasized the importance of maintaining good human relations in the workplace. She said, “Be persevering. Have self-control. You have to deal with your peers well. You have to develop good human relations because no matter how good you are, when you are at war with your boss and you are at war with your peers, you won’t be as effective.”
In her 37 years in government service, Domingo, who is also a lawyer, has strings of accomplishments that did not only gain her personal accolades but have also contributed to the improvement of government services in both regional and national levels.
She initiated the installation of the Solar Energy System in Region XII, which is a first in DOLE and made DOLE XII the champion in the Green our DOLE Program in 2013. She also initiated the adoption of all on-line systems in Region XII and institutionalization of the Internet-based Quality Management System of the region.
Under her leadership as DOLE Regional Director, DOLE Region XII was awarded as BEST performer in 2013 and 2014 in the Performance-Based Reward System of the government. On the national level, she organized the OFW Reintegration Network vis-à-vis the establishment of Industry Tripartite Council (ITC) in the overseas employment industry. She was responsible for the institutionalization of the Pre-Employment Seminar for Local Applicants (PESLA) as a prerequisite for the PESO referral of applicants to job vacancies of companies, after developing its module.
Just recently, Domingo has learned that DOLE Region XII has earned a Philippine Quality Award, highest level of national recognition for exemplary organizational performance. She considers this the highlight of her career in government, having led the sector for years.
The list goes on for this soft spoken leader, who is also a devoted wife and a loving mother of three. Being family-oriented herself, Domingo plans to teach the culture of savings among OFWs and their families and to educate them on how to invest wisely, through an improved reintegration program.
“It should be that when we go home to the Philippines, we could bring home an amount of money that’s more than enough. Then we can choose where to invest them. It is not easy to go into business back home because of so many requirements. So that’s one thing that we will try to find out. How we can help them. Link them to where they can invest,” she said.
Domingo who has recently replaced Atty. Delmer Cruz, started her three-year tour of duty on April 1. Dubai is her first designated post as Labor Attache.
(Source: FilipinoTimes.ae)