City formally awarded ISO Certification
The city government of Baguio was formally awarded the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2015 Certificate for Public Administration Covering All Services issued by TUV NORD CERT GmbH, a certification body, during flag-raising rites, January 3, at City Hall.
Valid from December 29, 2022 to December 28, 2025, the certificate was presented by officers of TUV NORD and the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) who assisted the city in achieving the prestigious certification.
It was received by local officials and department heads led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Rep. Mark Go and Vice-Mayor Faustino Olowan.
DAP Dir. Evangeline Macariola congratulated the city for the sterling achievement and hoped that it would serve as an inspiration for the city’s continued pursuit of performance excellence and inspire other local government units to pursue the same endeavor.
“With only seven months of DAP’s assistance and considering your organization’s size with hundreds of processes, we know that the journey wasn’t easy but you managed to pull it off and were able to establish a Quality Management System (QMS) covering all operations and processes required in the provision and regulation of quality public services, projects, and facilities to your constituents,” she said.
For his part, the Mayor heartily agreed that the certification was, indeed, not an easy achievement and emphasized that an ISO certification is “not a one-time deal but should be sustained”.
“It is an effort from everyone—the political leaders, department heads, down to the rank and file. Kasi pag nagkakaroon ka ng management review, pati yung pinakamababa, inaalam kung ano ang role mo, ano yung processes mo, at ano yung mga gaps na naidentify mo. Kaya and importante diyan ay yung critical thinking ability ng ating personnel,” he said.
The Mayor added: “Your efforts have made a significant impact on how we have elevated government service in the city. Congratulations to each and everyone of you.”
TUV NORD cited the city’s good practices — the utmost support and commitment of top management in the implementation of the QMS; the various awards, recognitions and citations that the city has received including the DILG Award on Vaccination, Business Friendly Award, Digital Governance Award, and more.
Also found noteworthy are the city’s implementation of the BrEEZE (Brand Excellence, Extraordinary and Zealous Employees) Awards as a venue or forum for employees’ rewards and recognition; the use of LED lights; and expansion of the Baguio VISITA website.
As to the next steps to take, the city will have to maintain its QMS through a thorough internal auditing system; always focus on customer specific, legal and regulatory requirements; and be dynamic and make changes and improvements to the management systems.
The ISO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for QMS where organizations use the standard to demonstrate their ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements.
ISO 9001 was first published in 1987 by the ISO, an international agency composed of the national standards bodies of more than 160 countries with its current version released in September 2015. – Gaby B. Keith
