Two offices of the Department of Finance (DOF) tasked to provide frontline services to the public have been recertified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in meeting the criteria for quality assurance and consistency and efficiency of services.
Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said the DOF’s Revenue Office and Municipal Development Fund Office (MDFO) were recertified up to April 16, 2020 after they provided proof by means of an audit that the requirements of the ISO 9001:2105 standard have been met.
The MDFO and Revenue Office secured their first ISO-certification in 2017.
The ISO certificate issued to the two offices covers the “granting of tax exemption on importations; fund administration of Municipal Development Fund and Official Development Assistance.”
An ISO certification validates that a management system, manufacturing process, service, or documentation procedure has met all the requirements for standardization and quality assurance. This certification is issued by the ISO, which is an independent, non-government, international organization that develops standards to ensure the quality, safety, and efficiency of products, services, and systems.
“We are recertified up to 2020 for our Revenue Office and MDFO. Both groups had zero non-conformities,” Tionko said in her report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III during a recent DOF executive committee (Execom) meeting.
Dominguez said other DOF offices rendering frontline services, including the Department’s attached agencies, such as the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC), should likewise be ISO-certified to ensure that the quality of service they render pass the international standards set for consistency, quality and efficiency.
“Let’s make an effort on that, particularly the departments that contact the public directly, like you two (referring to BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay and BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero),” Dominguez said during the Execom meeting.
Last year, the DOF became the first Philippine government agency to formally adopt global principles and standards in internal auditing after Dominguez approved the Department’s Internal Audit Service (IAS) Charter.
It also became the first state agency in the country to comply with international standards on managing and protecting its critical and valuable data under its Information Security Management System (ISMS).
The IAS Charter institutionalizes within the DOF a systematic and disciplined approach to independently evaluate performance, internal controls, operations and programs.
This IAS Charter is in keeping with the adoption by the Commission on Audit (COA) in 2016 of the Philippine Internal Auditing Framework for the Public Sector, which adheres to global professional practices.
The Philippine Internal Auditing Framework “provides authoritative guidance essential for the professional practice of internal auditing,” and is “aligned with the prevailing international principles and standards.”
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