After the agency successfully obtained International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2008 certification for its core Lotto gaming and prize-claim processes, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is extending the scope of its certification to include charity and branch operation processes.
Last year the PCSO hurdled the first-stage audit conducted by certifying body TUV Rheinland Philippines on December 3, as well as the second-stage audit on December 17 and 18. At the closing meeting on December 18, the auditors gave the PCSO four positive findings and 17 opportunities for improvement, with no non-conformities.
The ISO standards were also applied to certain existing support processes, and new processes were developed for document control and customer survey.
This year more frontline services will be added to the scope of certification. For the Charity Sector, which handles various forms of medical- and health-care-related
assistance, the processes for
providing individual medical assistance will be upgraded to ISO’s international standards.
Likewise, the Branch Operations Sector has chosen important front-line processes for inclusion in the agency’s ISO scope expansion. To prepare for this effort and to develop the management and operational skills of its personnel, sector officials recently attended a three-day seminar workshop on enhancing business planning and operations.
More of the PCSO’s support departments will also be included in the expanded scope.
In order to prepare the agency for the certifying body’s audit at the end of the year, the PCSO’s Quality Management Systems Committee (QMSC) conducted an internal quality audit two weeks ago to gauge process conformity to standards and follow up whether corrective actions were made to issues raised.
The QMSC also recently conducted a seminar on root-cause analysis for department managers and division chiefs to enable them to properly identify problems and challenges that may affect operational processes.
Obtaining ISO certification made up 10 percent of the PCSO’s targets for 2015, as set by the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG). The scope expansion for this year was given the same weight.
This is a challenging target because the processes and procedures for requests for assistance are performed not only at the head office in Metro Manila and the satellite office at the Lung Center of the Philippines, but also at certain branches of the PCSO outside of Manila.
The move to obtain ISO certification is in line with the strict implementation of Executive Order (EO) 605, s. 2007, which requires “all departments and agencies of the Executive branch, including all government-owned and –controlled corporations and government financial institutions” to adopt a Quality Management System and obtain ISO certification.
The EO’s intent is to professionalize the civil service and improve operations and service delivery in the fulfillment of government agencies’ mandates, duties and
responsibilities.
In addition to working this effort, the PCSO continually provides frontline services and medical-related support to our kababayan. On April 8, in observance of the 74th Araw ng Kagitingan and Philippine Veterans Week, the PCSO partnered with the Veterans Memorial Medical Hospital for a medical outreach activity in Agoo, La Union. The PCSO donated medicines for the event, which benefited 1,392 people.
Atty. Rojas is vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.