by Michael Vincent D. Cajulao
ZAMBOANGA CITY, July 30 (PIA) – The National Competitiveness Council stopped by the city last week to orient key sectors on the Philippine Quality Award and Challenge Programs as part of its nationwide road show.
The whole day activity held last July 26 include lectures on specific important points, all aimed at promoting competitiveness among industries and the mechanics of the Philippine Quality Award and Philippine Quality Challenge.
Department of Trade and Industry Assistant Division Chief of Center for Industrial Competitiveness (DTI-CIC) and National Competitiveness Council Program Officer Ms. Sarah C. Lope started the lecture proper touching on Building Regional Competitiveness.
Ms. Lope explained that the project’s goal is to build regional/local competitiveness vis-à-vis selected ASEAN cities or regions. Lope said the program also aims to encourage Regional Development Councils (RDCs) to organize their own Local Competitiveness Committees, develop a set of metrics to serve as diagnostic tool for assessing regional or local competitiveness, tap universities competitiveness data collection thru research and conduct surveys, and to establish a network of public and private key stakeholders and development partners.
To attain these goal and objectives, Lope presented a proposed structure as model for RDC who have yet to come up with their own Regional Competitiveness Council, with Zamboanga Peninsula, included. According to Lope the Council will be composed of 50% public sector representatives and 50% from the private sector. This is in line with President Benigno Aquino’s Private-Public Partnership (PPP). The council will then have three basic activities, data collection on competitiveness indicators, Monitoring and Evaluation, this includes annual enterprise survey, customer satisfaction survey, field monitoring and evaluation, and Business Permit and Licensing System (BPLS) Baseline Data Validation; and last activity is capability building and training.
As of June 2012, there are 10 committees being set up nationwide.
Mr. Paolo Beda Joven, also of NCC/DTI-CIC, on the other hand presented the results of the 2012 BPLS.
DTI-9 Regional Information Officer Lowell Vallecer said BPLS is one of the advocacies of the National Economic Research and Business Assistance Center (NERBAC). BPLS, Vallecer said, aims to help the local government to come up with an efficient business licensing system to make it easier for all industries to register their businesses.
In the afternoon, participants oriented on the Philippine Quality Award and Philippine Quality Challenge.
The Philippine Quality Award is a flagship program of the National Action Agenda for Productivity (NAAP), established in October 1997 by virtue of Executive Order no. 448, and was institutionalized on February 28, 2001 thru the signing of Republic Act 9013, otherwise known as the Philippine Quality Award Act. PQA is also a roadmap towards Global Competitiveness for key sectors like agriculture, industry or services, and public sectors.
DTI-CIC Specialist Mr. Phillip Jason P. Roque said the objectives of PQA is to achieve performance excellence by promoting standards on organizational performance, recognizing organizations which achieved quality and business excellence, and establishing national system for assessing quality and productivity performance.
In Region 9, the Department of Science and Technology recently received the Philippine Quality Award last January 12, 2012, with no less than Pres. Noynoy Aquino giving the award.
Ms. Myleen V. Aldana, also of DTI-CIC, talked on the Philippine Quality Challenge (PQC).
According to Aldana, PQC is a simplified PQA criteria designed for the small and medium enterprises, and those starting to improve their organizations. She added that PQC is a self-assessment and recognition program.
PQC helps in identifying the organization’s strengths and opportunities for improvements, serves as an excellent guide in the continual improvement efforts, recognizes organizations during annual conferences, and be part of PQA-recognized organizations.
The criteria for PQC seven basic components in particular order; management, planning, customer focus, measurement and data management, work force focus, operation focus, and business result.
Ms. Rosemarie S. Salazar, head of DOST-9’s regional Standards and Testing Laboratories, shared the department’s best practices that bagged them the Philippine Quality Award this year. (MVC/PIA-9)