By Franklin P.
Gumapon
PAGADIAN CITY – All her efforts at making the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST)-9 achieve exemplary performance have finally paid off.
DOST-9 Regional
Director Brenda Nazareth-Manzano emerged as one of the five recipients of the
2012 GAWAD CES Presidential Award recently conferred by the Career Executive
Board (CESB).
The lady regional
director was instrumental in instituting the brand vision for DOST-9 by setting
herself as an example of honesty, discipline, fortitude, openness and
commitment to quality work. DOST-9 covers three provincial offices of Ipil,
Zamboanga Sibugay, Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte and Pagadian City in
Zamboanga del Sur.
Director Manzano embarked
on organizational transformation to improve the agency’s performance using
international benchmarks that led to the attainment of Philippine Quality Award
(PQA) and implementation of Quality Management System (QMS). With this, DOST-9
earned ISO 9001:2008 in 2010 and ISO/IEC 17025:2000 accreditation of the
Regional Standards and Testing Laboratories.
She also strengthened the technology promotion and commercialization program and encouraged more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to avail themselves of the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), which is a nationwide strategy that assists and encourages MSMEs to adopt technology innovations to improve their operations to boost their productivity and competitiveness.
DOST-9 successfully assisted 355 MSMEs and its SETUP projects success rate registered an upward trend from 70 percent in 2008 to 98 percent in 2011.
Manzano also pushed
for the development and implementation of various IT-based systems which are
time, energy, and cost saving mechanisms that enable the office to save 95
percent of its paper and ink expenditures.
Nominees for the 2012
GAWAD CES award underwent a two-tiered rigorous evaluation screening: first, by
a screening committee composed of previous GAWAD CES winners who would
shortlist the nominees into 11 finalists and the final selection of winners by
the Committee on Awards chaired by Secretary Sonny B. Coloma of the
Presidential Communications and Operations Office (PCOO).
Other judges for this year’s GAWAD CES award included Ateneo de Manila University’s School of Government Associate Dean Dr. Mario C. Villaverde, People Management Association of the Philippines’ Immediate President Arthur Luis P. Florentin, Manila Bulletin Publishing Company’s Assistant Editor-in-Chief Vicente Edgardo C. Bartilad, and CESB members Antonio D. Kalaw Jr., David Cabanag and Charito Elegir.
GAWAD CES was established by virtue of Executive Order No. 715 on March 28, 2008. The award recognizes members in the Career Executive Service (CES) for exemplary performance and significant contributions, particularly in the areas of innovation, information and communication technology, social services, administrative reforms and public policy.
Manzano and the
other four each received P100 thousand cash prize at the Heroes’ Hall,
Malacañang Palace, Manila.