28 July 2022 — A handover ceremony was held at the DOLE where Assistant Secretary and former BLE Director Dominique Rubia-Tutay turned over the documents of the agency to her successor, OIC Director Patrick P. Patriwirawan, Jr.

Prior to joining the Bureau, OIC Patriwirawan was Chief Labor and Employment Officer and Acting Deputy Executive Director at the Institute for Labor Studies, the policy research and advocacy arm of the Department of Labor and Employment. For more than ten years, he has done research work in the areas of labor relations and public sector unionism, worker displacement and unemployment protection, labor market analysis in selected sectors, and overseas employment.

During his first general assembly with the Bureau on 28 July 2022, OIC Patriwirawan shared his vision and expectations as the new head of office. He aspires to shepherd its digital transformation by maximizing technological innovation, embracing a digital culture, and transforming the workplace with an agile workforce. Under his leadership, he hopes to develop a Bureau equipped with the necessary tools and capacities to work efficiently in a volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and digital world, propelled by flexibility and willingness to adapt to how work gets done, with a progressive workplace thinking. He urged BLE employees to maintain a client-focused mindset in developing, reviewing, implementing, and monitoring policies, regulations, programs, and services; encouraging them to uphold honor, integrity, personal commitment, and accountability in their work, aligning themselves with the thrust and direction of the Bureau, the DOLE, and the entire bureaucracy.

OIC Patriwirawan holds a Master of Industrial Relations degree from the School of Labor and Industrial Relations of UP Diliman and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Behavioral Science cum laude from UP Manila. He has been registered in the roster of the Career Executive Service Eligibles since 2019.