NEDA Cordillera tops Ph ‘quality award’ honorees

By Jane S. Dallapas

BAGUIO CITY -- The National Economic and Development Authority Cordillera emerged  winner of the “Performance quality award recognition for commitment to quality management as announced by the PQA committee on Dec. 22.
    NEDA Cordillera with the Cordillera Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources completed 4-step self-assessments and orientations which started June.
    The Cordillera regional competitiveness sub-committee on performance excellence deliberated on regional candidates and endorsed both as PQA Level 1 winners for the Cordillera Administrative Region.  
    The CAR’s NEDA and DENR are the first regional awardees of PQA regionalization program. They now join the roster of PQA honorees such as Dept of Science and Technology which won Level 1 recognition in 2021.
    NEDA-CAR is the second NEDA unit nationwide to receive such award after NEDA Ilocos, which was awarded in 2004 and 2006.
    The PQA is the highest level of national recognition for exemplary organizational performance conferred to the private and public sector organizations.
    It was established by executive order 448 in 1997 and institutionalized through Republic Act No. 9013 or the PQA Act.
Patterned after the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award of the United States, the PQA uses performance excellence framework in assessing candidates.
    The award constitutes four levels as follows: Level 1 for recognition for commitment to quality management, Level 2 for recognition for proficiency in quality management, Level 3 for recognition for mastery in quality management while the highest recognition is Level 4 for Philippine Quality Award for Performance Excellence.
    The PQA regionalization program is the qualifying recognition for national Level 3 and 4.