J. Albert Gamboa l December 6, 2024 l The Manila Times
WORLD Quality Month is celebrated every November in many countries to showcase the past year’s accomplishments in the realm of quality spaces. This annual global campaign raises awareness of the quality management profession and focuses on navigating the complexity in today’s dynamic business landscape.
The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), through its Government Quality Management Program (GQMP) under the Productivity and Development Center (PDC), joined the international community in this year’s celebration, with the theme of “Quality: From Compliance to Performance.”
The PDC held a two-day GQMP conference last month at the DAP Conference Center in Tagaytay City to explore trends in quality public service. Themed “Beyond Quality Management: Advancing to Public Service Excellence,” the event highlighted exemplary practices, insights from citizen satisfaction surveys, and global public sector trends. It was attended by officials from national government agencies and local government units (LGUs) as well as guests from the private sector.
GQMP is a government-funded initiative promoting quality improvement within the public sector. It was established under Executive Order 605 to ensure consistent, high-quality public services through the implementation of effective quality management systems in government agencies.
Founded in 1973, the DAP is the leading institution for public sector leadership and government in the Philippines. DAP’s mission is to build a professional corps of public servants dedicated to competence, integrity, and public service.
The highlight of the 2024 GQMP conference was the awarding ceremony for the Government Best Practice Recognition (GBPR), an initiative of the DAP to promote and share knowledge on outstanding and innovative practices. It supplements the DAP’s efforts to improve organizational productivity and performance in the public sector by recognizing innovative practices of government institutions. The conference brought together key stakeholders and professionals from various sectors to exchange ideas and share best practices in public service improvement.
Out of a total of 69 entries, this year’s GBPR awardee was Quezon City for its project titled “Kabahagi Center: Quezon City’s Integrated Service Delivery Model for the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities.” It will represent the Philippines in the 11th International Best Practice Competition (IBPC) in 2025, and can become a source of Filipino pride should it emerge as a global winner. The IBPC is an initiative of the New Zealand-based Center for Organizational Excellence Research.
Two other projects of the LGU headed by Mayor Joy Belmonte were finalists in the 2024 GBPR competition, namely the Quezon City Human Milk Bank and the Quezon City General Hospital. Other finalists were the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Ilocos Norte, the Municipal LGU of Narra in Palawan, and the 208th Tactical Helicopter Squadron of the Philippine Air Force. They are considered benchmark agencies with innovative and outstanding practices that consistently deliver superior results.
Serving in the GBPR 2024 board of judges were Alicia Dela Rosa, former chairman of the Civil Service Commission; Dr. Alan Cajes, acting senior vice president for services of the DAP, and Raymond Tan, director of Medport Distributors Inc. They recognized the six finalists for their initiatives that enhance efficiency, inclusivity, and community engagement.
Complementing the Public Sector Productivity Innovation Laboratory under the GQMP, the GBPR captures innovative and transformative ideas, approaches, and solutions of other government agencies in improving the quality and impact of their respective services to the public.
As the national productivity organization of the Philippines, the DAP is a member agency of the Asia Productivity Organization (APO) — an intergovernmental body established in 1961 to increase productivity in the Asia-Pacific region. The APO recognizes the DAP as the “Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity.”
*** The author is the chief finance officer of Asian Center for Legal Excellence and vice-chair of the FINEX Ethics Committee. The opinion expressed herein does not necessarily reflect the views of these institutions and The Manila Times. #FinexPhils www.finex.org.ph Photo from Pinterest.