KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato (PIA) -- Two government agencies in the Soccsksargen region were recognized for their commitment to providing quality service to clients and stakeholders. 

As implementing steward, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) awarded the regional offices of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) with the prestigious Philippine Quality Award (PQA) Level 1, or "Recognition for Commitment to Quality Management." 

According to the DTI, the two agencies were among the 19 PQA awardees in the country for the year 2023. 

DTI Regional Director Flora Politud-Gabunales explained that PQA is the highest level of national recognition for exemplary organizational performance that sets standards of excellence to help organizations achieve world-class performance. 

"The award is an indicator of how many organizations are on par with delivering performance manifesting organizational excellence and competitiveness in accordance with PQA standards," Politud-Gabunales pointed out. 

She further noted that PQA uses a national system for assessing quality and productivity performance in both private and public organizations. 

The official emphasized that the recognition is a testament to the hard work and commitment of the management team, the entire staff, and the organization's culture of excellence. 

Politud-Gabunales disclosed that initially there were only five agencies from the region that vied for recognition; however, only the DepEd and the DILG were able to successfully complete the process.  

They received the awards on March 20 during the Regional Development Council (RDC) meeting in Koronadal City. 

DepEd Undersecretary Epimaco Densing, Regional Director Carlito Rocafort, OIC Assistant Regional Director Kathrine Lotilla, and DILG Chief Administrative Officer Dennis Sucol, on behalf of OIC Regional Director Rochelle Mahinay-Sero, accepted their respective awards.

For her part, Mahinay-Sero stated that the recognition is proof of DILG’s dedication and commitment to public service in the region.

“With this, we in DILG Region XII reaffirm our commitment to uphold the principles of quality, innovation, and continuous improvement in all aspects of our operations,” the official reiterated, as she also highlighted the role of dedicated personnel, “whose unwavering commitment to excellence has made this achievement possible.”

Meanwhile, Rocafort described the feat as “one of the meaningful awards they received.”  

"We applied for the PQA to have our services assessed and see if we're truly following Total Quality Management standards,” he said.

According to Rocafort, they will push for the next level of the PQA, saying they are eyeing the eight school division offices in the region to be ISO certified and later apply for the PQA as well.

“As of now, we will be working on the ISO certification of our 8 school division offices, and after that, we will encourage them to also apply for PQA. But definitely, the regional office will push through with the next level of PQA, which is the national award, level 2 or 3,” said Rocafort.

Rocafort revealed that while some of the DepEd division offices in the country have received national PQA awards before, this is the first time a regional office has achieved such recognition.

He also encouraged other government agencies to follow suit and apply for similar assessments to improve their delivery of services.

“As government offices, we all know our thrusts in the delivery of services. If we are really following the processes and we would like excellent services for our clientele, then I would encourage every national line agency and the regional offices to apply for PQA,” Rocafort said, challenging other national line agencies to do the same.

"Let's have someone evaluate our performance," he said, emphasizing that "an outsider's perspective can help us see areas for improvement that we might miss on our own." 

Originally awarded by the President of the Philippines in Malacañan Palace, by virtue of DTI Department Administrative Order No. 22-12, series of 2022, the PQA was regionalized under the PQA Regionalization Program of DTI Competitiveness and Innovation Group, for levels one and two out of the five levels of awards.

PQA is divided into five levels of awards: level zero for organizational resilience and excellence; level one recognizes commitment to quality management; level two for proficiency in quality management; level three is for mastery in quality management; and level four is a recognition for the highest level of excellence. (ORVR - PIA Region 12)