DILG R1 preps up for ISO 9001:2015
Following the formal hand over of ISO Certification to the Department of the Interior and Local Government Central Office (DILG-CO) last September 2016, the DILG R1 is in the process of establishing its Quality Management System (QMS) as requirement of ISO 9001:2015.
The establishment of the Regional QMS kicked off with a 5- day training workshop facilitated by the Central Office Team for key DILG R1 personnel last February 6-10, 2017 at the DILG Regional Office 1, City of San Fernando, La Union.
The training workshop aimed to enable the management and key personnel of DILG R1to understand and appreciate the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 as foundation for the subsequent documentation, implementation and certification.
The activity was also conducted to determine what processes should be enrolled by the DILG R1 and plan how QMS processes at the DILG-CO could be cascaded to the regional office.
“We are the first Regional Office accorded with this training. We are fortunate that we will be doing this training about Quality Management System,” said Dir. James F. Fadrilan, the new Regional Director for DILG RI, in his opening message.
Dir. Fadrilan said that the key word is quality management.
“For us to be competitive globally and internationally we have to level up. We have to upgrade our standards to be at par with international standards. That is what ISO Certification is all about,” he added. He also emphasized the importance of the activity and asked for the full concentration, commitment and support of all the participants.
“For us to level up in service delivery, we need to compete. The norm right now is ISO Certification. Let us not be content with the current level that we have. It is not enough. That is why the establishment of the Regional Quality Management System is very important,” he said.
The Central Office team, on one hand, expressed high hopes for DILG R1.
Ms. Mary Rose L. Vilchez, training team leader from DILG-CO, said that “Region I really lives up to [their] name as Region I”.
“You are always number one in everything being the top performing region for three consecutive years. And I think that was the reason why the DILG management really pointed out to include Region I as the model region for regional quality management system establishment”.
The Central Office team tapped the expertise of Ms. Cynthia R. Ramirez, a seasoned ISO trainer who played a major role in the ISO Certification of the DILG CO. With them are four members of the Central Office QMS Secretariat and two Internal Quality Auditors (IQAs).
The DILG-CO team assisted the DILG R1 in the initial documentation of processes which the DILG R1 intends to enroll for the ISO certification.
The said activity was attended by the Provincial Directors and Program Managers, Division Chiefs and Assistant Division Chiefs, Regional Focal Persons, Unit/Section Chiefs, Planning Officer and other key personnel of DILG R1.
ISO 9001, ISO’s flagship quality management standard, helps organizations demonstrate that they can offer consistently good quality products and services to customers and clienteles. It streamlines processes and make organizations more efficient at what they do.