Written by: Fely M. Baday
Aligned with the agency’s values of competence, innovativeness, and responsiveness to achieve its vision, mission and goals, the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) participated in the 2024 Public Management Development Program (PMDP) Leadership Conference on February 1-2, 2024 at the Development Academy of the Philippines Conference Center (DAPCC) in Tagaytay City.
DAP President and Chief Executive Officer, Atty. Engelbert C. Caronan, Jr. warmly welcomed the PMDP alumni and emphasized the need to uphold the appropriate values and qualities of a public servant which include honesty and integrity, equitable and responsive to the needs of the community, and a leader who is visionary and serves as custodian of public trust. Atty. Caronan also stressed that the conference is an opportunity to learn from the stories of resilience and innovation, hence, to act not as individuals but a united force. The DAP President urged everyone, too, to be high performing in shaping the society and economy and treat the Leadership Conference as a celebration of shared commitment to public service, to building lasting relationships, to unlocking potentials, and to striving for greatness.
Subsequently, Department of Finance (DOF) Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Management Services Group Niño Raymond B. Alvina delivered the Keynote Message of DOF Secretary Ralph Recto which elaborated the Conference’s theme, “Human Centricity: The Key to Digitalization Success.” Secretary Recto emphasized that digital transformation is key to unlocking greater efficiency, transparency, and productivity. And this reality was underscored when the pandemic struck—it forced both private and public sectors to adopt digitalization at an unprecedented rate. With that, Secretary Recto added that the Bagong Pilipinas brand of governance enjoins government offices to rapidly integrate digital technologies across the bureaucracy to enhance the ease of doing business, streamline processes, expedite responses, and promptly deliver public services.
Center forCES Development Vice President Nanette C. Caparros (right) during the networking break
on 01 February 2024 at DAPCC, Tagaytay
On the first day of the Leadership Conference (LeadCon), PNVSCA PMDP alumni participated in the parallel sessions on (1) CSC Region XII’s Online Requests for Certification, Authentication, and Verification of Eligibility System (ORCAVS): A web-based system as an alternative option for efficient and responsive service not only during the pandemic but also during this time of digitalization; and (2) PSA’s Barangay Registry Information System: A Key to Effective Formulation and Delivery of Social Development Program. Indeed, the PMDP alumni were able to gain inspiration from the success stories of impactful and sustained digitally driven innovations presented by their co-alumni from the DPWH, CSC, PSA, DOH, DA, NKTI, NAMRIA, and PhilHealth.
February 1st ended with a celebration of the achievements of the PMDP Alumni Club’s distinguished members from the different government agencies and the acknowledgment of their remarkable contributions in both the private and public settings.
PNVSCA Executive Director Donald James D. Gawe was conferred the “Galing PMDP Award” in recognition of his “Galing” – Smart and Innovative. Since his graduation from PMDP-MMC Batch 03 in 2014, he navigated his way through the ranks from being a Chief Economic Development Specialist of NEDA 4A to Assistant Regional Director of NEDA Region 1 and to his current post as the Executive Director of PNVSCA. Truly, ED Gawe exemplifies the Program’s vision of producing a corps of development-oriented, competent, dedicated and honest government senior executives.
On the second day, esteemed speakers from the national government and international agencies shared their knowledge, experiences, and insights on various topics that include Human-Centric Digitalization in the Public Sector, Digital Governance Journeys in Asia (South Korea, India and Thailand), and Cyber Security and Data Privacy in the Philippines. These plenary sessions aimed at increasing the PMDP alumni’s appreciation of the value of human-centricity and whole-of-government approach toward accelerating digital transformation and providing them valuable insights on inclusive digitalization experiences in various countries and sectors. Remarkably, the networking breaks in between sessions provided opportunities for the alumni to rekindle camaraderie and deepen networking within the PMDP community for stronger horizontal governance.
DAP Senior Vice President for Programs, Ms. Magdalena L. Mendoza concluded the Leadership Conference with a message that while we need digital transformation, we also need social transformation; hence a human-centered digitalization that is inclusive, people-centered, and where no one is left behind. SVP Mendoza also recalled the message of former DAP Chairperson Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr. which says that we must always remember that we are working for our children and for our family, thus we need social transformation in the public sector.
Organized by the Center for CES Development on the occasion of DAP’s 50th founding anniversary, the 2024 PMDP Leadership Conference gathered more than 300 alumni scholars of the Public Management Development Program (PMDP), the National Government’s Career Executive Service Development Program.
The author is currently the Supervising Volunteer Service Officer of the Program Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PCMED), Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency.
Visit PNVSCA website (www.pnvsca.gov.ph) and PNVSCA Facebook (facebook.com/PNVSCA) for other stories and information on volunteering.