City gets nod to receive ISO certification

Finally, the city government has been recommended to be given an ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) Certification for its management, support and operational processes, and effective improvement in the quality of its services by an accredited third-party auditing firm, TUV Nord Philippines, after an exhaustive audit it conducted via teleconference on December 26.

Cited in the audit as the city’s good practices are 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 TUV Nord Philippines is advising the city 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.

They announced that the next audit will be held on or before December 26, next year, and that certificate processing will take three months after the last day of the audit.

The International Organization for Standardization (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.

The city’s quest for the ISO certification started when it was selected as a Government Quality Management Program (GQMP) beneficiary by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) in 2021 and entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with DAP for its technical assistance for the establishment of a QMS certifiable status eligible to ISO 9001:2015 standard.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong then issued executive order no. 91, series of 2021, institutionalizing the 2021 Government Quality Management core team, secretariat and sub-teams of the city with himself as project team leader and City Planning and Development Coordinator Donna Tabangin and City Budget Officer Leticia Clemente as actions officers and department/office heads as members.

This was followed by executive order no. 148, series of 2021, reconstituting the QMS core team, secretariat and sub-teams and executive order no. 147, series of 2022, amending and reconstituting the duties and responsibilities of the various core teams.

The Mayor expressed his “utmost gratitude and appreciation” to all city officials, department heads and employees for their efforts in the achievement of the much-coveted certification that was echoed by Clemente. – Gaby B. Keith