President Aquino recognizes five organizations
for performance excellence
President Benigno Aquino III led the conferment
ceremonies of the 16th Philippine Quality Award (PQA) where five organizations
received recognitions for performance excellence held at Rizal Hall, Malacanan,
Palace on Thursday.
In his speech, President Aquino underscored the
importance of quality in performance and setting high standards in services in
both government and private agencies.
“Merely good enough is not enough. With the
advent of new, scientific discoveries in almost every possible field of
expertise, there are very few excuses left for substandard work, and it is up
to all of us—whether in the public or private sector—to usher in an era of
precision, of heightened standards for every possible product and service,” the
President said.
While recognizing the achievements and
competence of each awardee, the President likewise challenged them to strive
harder and “play an even greater role in continuing empowerment, progress and
prosperity of the Filipino people.”
“Let us reinforce the culture of quality and
competence that has taken root in the Philippines. If we continue working
together—whichever sector we may be in—we can ingrain a culture that shuns
mediocrity, and consistently pursues excellence. We can build on our successes
as one country, and complete our turnaround into a society of inclusiveness and
opportunity,” he said.
The five organizations that received Recognition
for Commitment to Quality Management award were: Philippine Information Agency
headed by Secretary Herminio Coloma; Department of Science and Technology
Region XI headed by Dr. Anthony Sales; Lyceum of the Philippine University
headed by Atty. Roberto P. Laurel; Philippine Association of Colleges and
Universities Commission on Accreditation headed by Dr. Rosita L. Navarro; and
Zamboanga Polymedic Hospital (Ciudad Medical Zamboanga) headed by Mr. Erwin G.
To.
The Philippine Quality Award is the highest
level of national recognition for the exemplary organization performance. It is
the country’s counterpart to the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award in the United States and other quality award system in 88 countries
around the world.
PQA was established in 1997, through Executive
Order 448 and was institutionalized through Republic Act 9013 also known as the
Philippine Quality Award on February 28, 2001. The PQA sets the standard of
excellence to help organizations achieve world-class performance.
The Department of Trade and Industry is the
award manager of the PQA.
PQA recipients are expected to share exceptional
management practices as benchmarks with other organizations that are aiming for
performance excellence. PND (jb)
Government upgrading portal to enhance
transparency on foreign donations
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda met the
members of the diplomatic community Thursday for the upgrade of the Foreign Aid
Transparency Hub (FAiTH), a government portal established to track donations
from foreign countries intended for Typhoon Yolanda rehabilitation.
In a press briefing at the Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA), Lacierda said the government wants to update the website to
easily track the donations being given by foreign donors and also know the
recipients of the assistance.
The government wants everything to be
transparent with regards to help coming from donors abroad, Lacierda said.
The government not only tracks foreign
assistance but also ensures accountability on how the money has been converted
to and what entities receive the support, he said.
“It calls for transparent accountability on our
part which we are committed to do. It now calls for accountability on the part
of other aid organizations. All for the purpose of informing a number of
audiences here, we want to make sure that foreign governments …that their
donations are fairly reported,” Lacierda said.
“We also want to make sure that the people are
informed where the donations are going.”
The Commission on Audit (COA) is also a part of
FAiTH, and will be auditing donations being extended to the government, the
Palace official said.
The government launched FAiTH in November last
year following the outpouring of international aid for the Philippines in the
wake of Super Typhoon Yolanda.
FAiTH is a groundbreaking web-based initiative
that will allow the public to monitor the status of foreign assistance to the
country in response to disasters and calamities.
It is an online portal of information on
calamity aid and assistance—both in cash and in kind—received by the
Philippines from other countries, multilateral organizations, and also those
sent through Philippine embassies abroad.
The initiative is the first of its kind in the
Philippine government, which previously did not have a system for tracking the
use of disaster-relief funds donated by other countries and aid organizations.
FAiTH is the Aquino administration’s pioneering
response to the need for transparency and accountability in the management of
humanitarian aid. PND (as)
