By Mai Gevera

Davao City (19 October) -- Government agencies are now urged to align with the Government Quality Management System as a response to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's call for a more efficient, effective, and productive government.

After encouraging the private sector to comply with an international standard for management and productivity, the President has also seen the need to upgrade the internal system in the government.

Development Academy of the Philippines managing director for Mindanao Reynaldo Navacilla said that it is about time for government agencies to eliminate red tape and practice transparency, the same way that the government has been pushing the private sector to do the same.

"We have been promoting this quality management system by encouraging the different offices to start with their citizens charter," he said.

DAP is also enticing some government offices to get an ISO 9001 certification just like what the Department of Trade and Industry did recently.

DTI Deputy Quality Management System coordinator Dante Muyco said that having gained the ISO certification was a significant achievement for the said office.

"In doing so, we adapted the customer satisfaction principle by providing our clients with satisfaction sheets where they could cite their opinion," he said.

With that, DTI has struggled for frequent checking and adjustment on their services in compliance to the said certification.

Navacilla believed that an ISO certification may be very premature for the government sector to work on, however, he stressed that the public offices must already apply and adapt the quality management system.