In accessing the Performance Governance System (PGS), the agencies believe they will not only accomplish their goals, but will also help in the nationalistic action of rescuing the country from its faltering competency record, a belief that was shared by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA).
The ISA, headed by former Finance secretary Jesus Estanislao, is an independent governance-reform institute, which is organizing this year’s public
governance forum on Wednesday in partnership with the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) and the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP).
Virgilio Fulgencio, NCC director, said at a press briefing that because of corruption and other contributing factors, the country’s record is very poor in global competitiveness. “We’re in the bottom of the list of countries in Southeast Asia in terms of competitiveness; we are even below Indonesia. We don’t deserve this ranking; I find it unacceptable.”
At a briefing over the weekend in Makati, Fulgencio said the international organizations and institutions that laid down the rankings also classified the Philippines as the best in terms of manpower capability in the world and the third in managerial capability.
He said through the PGS, which President Aquino ordered adopted by government agencies and offices last year, they hope to catapult the Philippines into the top three competitive countries in Southeast Asia within the term of the current administration.
At the briefing, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army also briefed the ISA on their ongoing undertakings in relation to the PGS, which is a local adaptation of Harvard Business School’s Balanced Scorecard.
The PGS, the key factor in the awarding in September last year of the P434-million grant to the Philippines from the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) of the United States, teaches government offices and units how to achieve their long-term strategies with breakthrough delivery results.
The PGS ensures that the grant, which is also known as the development and anti-corruption fund, and which benefited at least three government offices, including the DSWD, will achieve its objectives.
The DSWD said it was already implementing the MCC money through several projects and with the use of the PGS, which is also aiding the office in its pursuit of becoming a “world standard for the coordinated delivery of social services and social protection for poverty reduction by 2030.”
“After…the enterprise scorecard was crafted, the DSWD started cascading its strategies to the second-level offices, both at the central office and field offices. Thus, the scorecard of the secretary was translated into each of our bureau, service and regional directors’ very own score card,” it said.
Chief Supt. Rex Milton Dolino said the PNP is also cascading its Integrated Transformation Program down to the lowest level through the PGS in order to achieve maximum results and ensure uniformity and synchronization in its implementation.
“At the end of this year, the program should have cascaded down to every provincial police office, so that by next year, we will start cascading it to every policeman,” Dolino said.
On the other hand, the Army is also pursuing its transformation road map through the same formula as it aims for its 2018 vision of becoming a “World-class Army that is a source of national pride.”
Under the PGS-driven road map, the Army must transform into a “disciplined and motivated” organization by 2013 and a “respected Army in Asia by 2022.”
The Army said it was already cascading its transformation program to the divisions, brigades and battalions.
Estanislao said that of all the government agencies implementing the PGS, it is the Army that is the “most organized.”
He said based on its presentation, it was also using the PGS to “gain the hearts and minds of the society.”
