Iloilo City marked its 89th Charter Day celebration by generating thousands of career opportunities and honoring local government workers alongside prominent community figures for their contributions to municipal progress.
A mega job fair organized as part of the month-long festivities made over 15,000 local and international openings available to job seekers. Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Manager Gab Umadhay confirmed Wednesday that the event hit its target with a 10.87 percent hiring success rate, yielding roughly 222 on-the-spot hires and sending 2,135 candidates forward for final enterprise screenings.
“Our job fair catered to over 15,000 jobs, both local and overseas. We are thankful that we met the target for a placement rate of 10.87%. This translates to around 222 hired-on-the-spot among our job applicants,” Umadhay reported, noting that roughly 60 percent of candidates hailed from outside the city limits. “We are happy that they see that opportunities are here in the city.”
To sustain employment momentum, the local government plans to host additional recruitment drives throughout the year, utilizing both the PESO facility on the second floor of City Hall and SM City Iloilo.
The festivities culminated Tuesday evening with the Mayor’s Dinner, where Mayor Raisa Treñas recognized civic and municipal contributions by presenting 21 Mayor’s Choice Awards to city departments, along with five Mayor’s Citations and 10 Outstanding Ilonggo honors. Earlier in the week, 42 public employees and nine departments were also commended for excellence in public service.
The Mayor’s Citation awardees included:
- Lt. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete
- Dr. Cynthia Palmes-Saloma
- Dr. Resurreccion Sadaba
- Dr. Kristine Treñas
- Febie Ibojos
The 10 Outstanding Ilonggos recognized were:
- Alfonso Miguel Lenard Tan
- Crisanto Añas
- Cynthia Concepcion-Baga
- Dr. Gracia Malazarte
- Dr. Ramon Zarceno
- Gretchen Demisana
- Jefferson Buenaventura
- Lucyl Libutaque-Gulmatico
- Rhea Peñaflor
- Ronald Latap
Reflecting on the honors, Mayor Treñas emphasized that the accolades represent the quiet dedication and personal sacrifices behind municipal service.
“We may not always make noise about what we do, but when there is work to be done, we show up and deliver what we promised. As mayor, I have learned that the heart of Iloilo is really its people,” Treñas stated during the ceremony. “We need people who care. People who are willing to step up, share their time and talents and be part of something bigger than themselves.”
Alongside employment initiatives and civic awards, the city initiated a week-long mobile healthcare campaign. Organized by the City Health Office, the distributed medical and dental missions are traveling directly to various barangays to extend free healthcare services to nearly 600 residents.