Who would have thought that the 28-year-old planning director of the Biliran Province State University (BiPSU), now a gem, a shining star of the university, is now one of the 10 national semi-finalists of the Pagasa Award, the Honor Awards Program (HAP) of the Civil Service Commission(CSC).

The Honor Awards Program or the 2023 Search for Outstanding Government Workers, which consists of three categories, namely: Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award, Dangal ng Bayan Award, and Pagasa Award, is the rewards and incentives program of the Civil Service Commission that recognizes government officials and employees who have displayed outstanding work performance.

Among the criteria of the Pagasa Award are: noteworthiness of outstanding performance/contribution, sustainability of contribution, impact of performance/achievement, reliability and effectiveness, and consistency of performance.

In Region 8 this year, the CSC received 24 HAP nominations, 10 were declared regional winners to include Peñaranda and Governor Gerard Roger M. Espina. Governor Espina was nominated as the lives of Biliranons were better with his leadership and commitment to public service.  Among the notable contributions of Espina were the establishment of Balay Biliranon, Satellite Offices, among others which center on his motto of governance “Pag-asa, Pagtulong at Pagmalasakit.”

The 10 regional winners were recommended to the national level to undergo review by the National HAP Secretariat, and only Peñaranda has moved forward as national semi-finalist coming from Region 8. 

Joedel Peñaranda, who started his government service as part-time instructor in 2016 in BiPSU, the youngest university and board secretary of the university and planning director in 2021until present, has been nominated by Dr. Marianne Agnes T. Mendoza, former OIC President of the university for the Pagasa Award for his significant accomplishments which help shape and transform to what the university has achieved at present.

One of his significant contributions was his remarkable initiative and effort in partnership with leading global higher educational institutions, for the introduction, application and sustainability of the university’s QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) Star Ratings System, one of the world’s leading analytic for the global higher education sector leading to a three-star achievement. This paved the way for BiPSU to join the select ranks of 24 universities in the Philippines to have been rated by the leading analytics for higher education worldwide, out of the 22,419 higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country.

Another significant contribution of Peñaranda was at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic where he ingeniously developed “Mx Habi,” a strategic and comprehensive planning course, which enables BiPSUnistas seamless access to resources without disruptions of its operations and services despite the constraint brought by the pandemic. Mx Habi has empowered members of the GAD Focal Point System to effectively harmonize their plans, programs, and activities with GAD-responsive objectives. He also played a vital role in coordinating and facilitating partnerships with the Philippine Future-Thinking Society (PhilFutures), the country’s leading organization of foresight practitioners and advocates. This resulted to BiPSU chairing the Pangandoy sa Hiraya: The Futures-Thinking Consortium of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in Eastern Visayas.

With his brilliance, and dedication to work, he was able to bridge the university to local and international partners which resulted to the implementation of many programs and services that greatly contributed to the accomplishments of the university, and many other accomplishments included in his nomination to the CSC. Peñaranda, a graduate of Bachelor in Secondary Education in 2015 of the then Naval State University, now BiPSU, was also a class valedictorian and the sole recipient of leadership award in his Master in Public Management at the Development Academy of the Philippines, and a recipient of many other local and international awards.

He was also a member of the Fulbright FLTA Alumni Association of the Philippines, including other membership and directorship in prestigious local and international associations and organizations.

“I’m mighty proud to be this year’s Outstanding Government Worker in the CSC Pagasa Individual Category for Region 8. May this award inspire my fellow workers in the government, especially the youth who bring so much to the table of public service delivery,” Peñaranda simply said on being one of the semi-finalists of the CSC Pagasa Award. (MMP/RSV/PIA Biliran)