Bienvenido E. Laguesma is the current Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), committed to provide responsive support interventions for Filipino workers, especially those in rural and far-urban areas. He also serves as ex-officio member of the LANDBANK Board of Directors.

 

Secretary Laguesma has a long track record of protecting and promoting the welfare of Filipino workers, having previously served the labor department in various capacities for over 25 years. He started his public service career as a mediator-arbiter at the Bureau of Labor Relations – Department of Labor (now DOLE) in 1976, and rose from the ranks until he was appointed as labor secretary in 1998 under the Estrada administration

 

He was a part the Social Security Commission as Commissioner from 2011 to 2016, during the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III.

 

Secretary “Benny,” as he is commonly called, obtained a Bachelor's degree in political science from the Lyceum of the Philippines University in 1971. He then attended the Ateneo de Manila University where he graduated with a law degree in 1975. He was a member of Session XIX of the Career Executive Development Program of the Development Academy of the Philippines in 1985.