Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato T. De La Peña has lauded the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) for its nearly 500 academy alumni of the Public Management and Development Program (PMDP) that comprise the corps of trained development-oriented officials envisioned to take on the reins of management in the country’s bureaucracy.
Speaking at the 10th PMDP graduation ceremony here early evening on Friday, Secretary Dela Peña described the 43 year old academy as “an established institution with a reputation of generating the best and the brightest of pioneering and value- adding individuals who can solve development problems at the local, national and international levels.”
“The bureaucracy is not perfect and the coming change may be riddled with fits of slowness and pain (but) despite this, I encourage you to continue on,” Sec. Dela Peña observed sharing his 43-year in public service that “there could perhaps be no greater reward in our lifetime, than the feeling of delivering sincere service.”
The Secretary congratulated the 40 graduates of Middle Managers Class batches 8 (Siklab) and 9 (Hiyas) as the new corp of government executives joining the growing 437 PMDP alumni and praised them as scholars. “Your title as scholar serves not only as a stamp of pride for your remarkable achievement, but also as a reminder of your responsibility to the nation and that the current circumstance of your country does not allow us to sit on our laurels,” Sec. Dela Peña underscored.
The DOST chief described the DAP – PMDP graduates as a privileged group and encouraged them that “never has been a time more opportune than now to join the ranks of our government.” He challenged the graduates that the country stands at the pinnacle of change, with a government committed to penetrating existing political structures in order to set things straight.
“It is a government that is dedicated to doing good and in the process of doing so, seeks to capacitate the women and men at the forefront of this change we seek,” Dela Peña emphasized. He described the current paradigm as a beacon of light in the confounding universe called bureaucracy citing others who call it “bureaucrazy” which seeks an urgent need for government executives with exceptional qualities and skills like the DAP graduates to respond to the call for “change.”
“While there is support and encouragement from the top, the challenge remains great. You come in at a disruptive time when a lot of organizing and fixing and streamlining of policies and procedures is being done,” Dela Peña assessed.
He called on the graduates and alumni to see the opportunity to be part of the unprecedented change to continue to facilitate the growth of the Filipino nation where the impact is equitable to its entire people. The DOST Secretary also pointed out the gargantuan role of the middle level management of the government to contribute to the dynamic and hopeful transition.
Citing academic studies by various universities like Wharton, Dela Peña shared that middle managers may play the most important part of an organization when it comes to performance more than any organizational factors.
“The success of any initiative hinges greatly on the skills, characteristics and judgment call of the middle management,” he said. He emphasized the importance of building individual capacities and the necessity of empowering middle managers so that the mandates thrust upon them from the top can be translated to the desired impact.
He also shared the DOST’s mandate and thrust as stewards of the country’s science and technology (S&T) agenda which builds institutional human resource capacities in various S&T areas to meet the needs of the reforms and maximize industryacademe synergy.
Tapping the science and technology middle managers, Dela Peña said his department is aggressively implementing programs to continuously increase the number of researchers, scientists and engineers to reach a critical mass of qualified S&T human resources.
To do this, the secretary said their various undertakings are complimented by the DAP Re-entry Projects to absorb them and utilize their skills to help the S&T grow and become more relevant to national development. (Article source: Philippines News Agency / PGL/SEP/PJN / www.pna.gov.ph)
THE GRADUATES
