As part of its efforts to improve its capacity on human and financial resource management as well as general services administration, the Finance and Administrative Division (FAD) of the NEDA Regional Office (NRO) VIII paid an exposure visit on 07 – 09 July 2022 to its counterpart in NRO VI (Western Visayas) and NRO VII (Central Visayas) to benchmark on best practices and innovations.

OIC-Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ingrid D. Magno of NRO VI presented the NRO VI organizational structure. This was followed with a breakout session by unit. Some of the key practices applied in NEDA Western Visayas include the conduct of procurement planning activity and its processes and inputs forming part of the Annual Procurement Plan (APP) and Project Procurement Management Plan (PPMP), use of Microsoft Access as tracking system of outgoing and incoming communications as well as for supplies and Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE) inventory system, real-time updating of inventory balances through a system application, simultaneous preparation and approval of disbursement vouchers through Local Area Network creation, the office’s internal mechanisms in accomplishing and consolidating the Office Performance Commitment and Review Form, conduct of various trainings and activities, and adoption of technological solutions or systems from, and in coordination with, other NROs, among others.

The NRO VIII team also toured the Supply, Finance Records and Personnel Records Room with NRO VI FAD staff showing how records and supplies were particularly arranged. Also, the NRO VIII delegation team personally met with NRO VI staff from the four technical divisions.

For the visit to NRO VII, CAO Mariolito M. Bonggot briefly presented the NEDA Central Visayas Region’s profile prior to the introduction of the NRO VII staff comprising the FAD and the ORD. CAO Bonggot initially shared the office’s best practices which include the adoption of preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19, provision of vehicle support to staff, procurement processes for fuel consumption, procedures in preparing the PPMP and APP, preventive maintenance activities such as termite and pest control services for the whole NRO VII building, and the NRO VII Employee Handbook, among others.

A breakout session commenced shortly after the open forum which led to an informative and engaging discourse, with the NRO VII staff sharing their practices on matters of procurement and the required attachments, disbursement of petty cash and financial recordkeeping, insurance of all office’s properties through GSIS, building renovations and compliance with pertinent issuances and circulars on hiring staff for Job Order (JO) and contractual positions, vehicle maintenance, inventory and management of supplies and PPE, procedures in preparing SPMS forms, upgrade of CCTV surveillance cameras, among others.

Aside from the exposure visit to the said NROs, the NRO VIII delegation team also conducted a community immersion activity in Guimaras where they witnessed firsthand the province’s best practices and innovations, particularly on environmental management. Part of the trip was to visit the San Lorenzo Wind Farm, which consists of 27 wind turbines, each generating 2 megawatts of power, and one of the sources of sustainable and renewable energy in the country.

The exposure visit is part of the series of benchmarking activities of NRO VIII technical and administrative divisions this year.

Article by: Stephanie V. Plimaco, NRO VIII-FAD
Photos by: Alyssa Jane P. Abuda, NRO VIII-FAD