- Barangay Certification for first-time jobseekers
- Oath of Undertaking
- Barangay clearance
Republic Act No. 11261
First-Time Jobseekers in Legazpi City
If you are looking for your first job, a national law lets you get most of your pre-employment documents without paying the government fee. You claim it with one piece of paper from your barangay, and you can use it once, within one year.
What the law actually gives you
The First Time Jobseekers Assistance Act waives the government's fees on the documents employers ask for. It does not waive private costs, and it is not a job placement programme.
The fee is waived, not the process
You still apply, queue, and submit requirements like anyone else. What you do not do is pay the government's charge for the document.
Once, and once only
Section 3 of the Act says the benefit “shall only be availed of once.” Agencies keep a roster of who has claimed it.
One year to use it
The implementing rules give you one year from the date your Barangay Certification was issued. After that it lapses.
Are you a first-time jobseeker?
The implementing rules define one as “a Filipino citizen, who is actively seeking employment, locally or abroad, for the first time, as certified by the barangay of which he/she is a resident.” Your barangay can only issue the certification if you have lived there for at least six months.
Past work does not always disqualify you. The rules exclude entrepreneurs and business owners, independent contractors, and beneficiaries of government programmes such as GIP and SPES from counting as “employment” — so having been an SPES student worker does not, by itself, stop you from being a first-time jobseeker.
What is free, and what still costs money
Section 4 of the Act lists what is waived. Section 8 lists what is deliberately left out. Both lists are short enough to read in full.
Fees waived (Section 4)
- Police clearance certificate
- National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance
- Barangay clearance
- Medical certificate from a public hospital
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate
- Transcript of academic records from state colleges and universities
- Tax Identification Number (TIN)
- Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) card
- Other documentary requirements issued by the government that an employer may require of a job applicant
That last line is a catch-all written into the law. If an office refuses a document that an employer genuinely asked for, it is worth pointing to it.
Still payable (Section 8)
- Professional licensure examinations at the PRC
- Philippine passport, and DFA authentication of documents
- Civil Service Examination applications at the CSC
- Driver's licence applications at the LTO
One more carve-out sits inside the waiver itself: a medical certificate from a public hospital is free, but the laboratory tests and medical procedures behind it are not.
How to claim it, in three steps
Everything starts at your barangay. No other office can certify that you are a first-time jobseeker.
Go to your barangay hall and ask for the Barangay Certification
It is a document “issued and signed by the Punong Barangay or his/her authorized officer” stating that you have lived in the barangay for at least six months and are a first-time jobseeker. You will be asked to fill in a short personal information sheet.
Sign the Oath of Undertaking in front of the Punong Barangay
This is where you commit to the conditions attached to the benefit — chiefly that you are claiming it for the first time. It is executed before the Punong Barangay or an authorised officer. DOLE's own form is headed “this form need not be notarized”, so nobody should be sending you to a notary or charging you for one.
Present the certification at each office you request a document from
Bring it every time. Offices usually keep a copy and record your claim, because the law requires them to maintain a roster of everyone issued a document under it. You have one year from the date on the certification.
Which office issues which document
Only some of these are the City Government's to give. The rest are your barangay's or a national agency's, and this page is honest about which is which.
- Local copies of your birth or marriage certificate
- Medical certificate from a public health facility
- Help assembling the whole set, which is PESO's job under the Act
- NBI clearance — National Bureau of Investigation
- Police clearance — Philippine National Police
- PSA copies of birth and marriage certificates
- TIN — Bureau of Internal Revenue
- UMID card — Social Security System
- Transcript of records — your state college or university
The City Government does not issue these and cannot follow them up for you. Bring the same Barangay Certification to each.
Where to go in Legazpi City
Section 7 of the Act names the Public Employment Service Office as the office that “shall assist first time jobseekers in securing required pre-employment documents.” In Legazpi, that is PESO.
PESO Legazpi
Public Employment Service Office. Beyond the documents, it registers jobseekers, holds vacancies from partner employers, and runs SPES, JobStart and the DOLE livelihood programmes.
- Office
- 3rd floor, SM City Legazpi
- Mobile
- 0927 532 3801
Frequently asked questions
Answers here come from the Act and its implementing rules. Where the rules are silent, this page says so instead of guessing.
I worked as an SPES student or a GIP intern. Am I still a first-time jobseeker?
Yes. The implementing rules define “employment” so that beneficiaries of government programmes such as the Government Internship Program and the Special Program for Employment of Students do not count as having been employed. Your barangay's form may ask whether you were a JobStart beneficiary — answer it honestly.
Does the barangay charge for the certification?
Barangay clearance is on the list of documents whose fees are waived. If you are asked to pay for the certification itself, raise it with the Punong Barangay before paying.
What if I lose the certification, or the year runs out?
The one-year clock runs from the date of issuance, and the benefit itself is a once-only entitlement — a fresh certification does not reset a claim you have already used. Ask your barangay what it can reissue, and PESO what your remaining options are.
My school is private. Is my transcript free?
No. The Act covers transcripts “issued by state colleges and universities”. A private school's fees are its own to set.
I need a medical certificate. Is everything free?
The certificate from a public hospital is free. The laboratory tests and medical procedures required before it can be issued are explicitly excluded, so budget for those.
What happens if someone fakes the certification?
The Act treats fabricating the Barangay Certification as an offence punishable under the Revised Penal Code. It is not worth it.
Official sources
Every rule on this page traces to one of the following. Where a widely repeated detail could not be checked against a readable official document, it was left off rather than printed.
Republic Act No. 11261
An Act Waiving Government Fees and Charges in the Issuance of Documents Required in the Application for Employment of First Time Jobseekers, approved 10 April 2019
Official Gazette Joint Memorandum Circular No. 001, s. 2019
Implementing Rules and Regulations of R.A. No. 11261, issued by DOLE with 23 other national agencies — the source of the six-month residency rule, the Oath of Undertaking, and the one-year validity
Senate issuances library (PDF) DILG MC No. 2020-128
Duties of Punong Barangays and barangay officials in issuing the Barangay Certification, including the personal information sheet applicants fill in
DILG (PDF) DOLE Bureau of Local Employment
The national FTJAA page, with the downloadable Barangay Certification and Oath of Undertaking forms
ble.dole.gov.ph This page explains a national law in plain language. The published law and its implementing rules are always the authority. If anything here differs from them, follow the official text and please tell us so we can correct it.