The Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) has maintained its ISO 9001:2015 certification for the consistent high quality of the delivery of its services, especially on the swift issuance of the Certificate of Net Debt Service Ceiling and Borrowing Capacity (CNDSCBC) to local government units (LGUs) even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
BLGF Executive Director Niño Raymond Alvina said TÜV Rheinland, the third-party body that conducted the system audit, found “noteworthy” that the Bureau was able to consistently meet its 20-day processing period for the issuance of the Certificate to LGUs despite the pandemic-induced restrictions.
“The audit yielded zero non-conformity findings, and we will be re-audited in December 2021,” said Alvina in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
The BLGF, which is attached to the Department of Finance (DOF), was first awarded the ISO 9001:2015 certification in March 2020 for the quality of its processes in issuing the CNDSCBC to LGUs.
In line with the objectives of the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Act, the BLGF has streamlined this certification process, reducing documentary requirements from 12 to 4 steps.
It also strengthened the evaluation procedures through the continuous monitoring of LGU borrowings using electronic channels.
Alvina thanked Dominguez for his continuing support for the BLGF, especially in the implementation of the bureau’s digitalization and anti-red tape initiatives, which enabled it to maintain its ISO certification in 2020.
Dominguez lauded the BLGF for its latest accomplishment, which, he said, reflects the “excellence in public service that the bureau has consistently strived to achieve even in the midst of the mobility restrictions and other limitations imposed on the national and local governments and the public by the coronavirus-driven pandemic.”
“I commend the men and women of the BLGF for their outstanding work in ably assisting LGUs to attain fiscal sustainability and upgrade the delivery of public services in their respective localities. This is particularly important in the light of the central role that local governments have to play in the Duterte administration’s comprehensive program to protect communities from COVID-19 and speed up the recovery of the economy from pandemic-induced global slump.”
“The BLGF is at the forefront of the government’s efforts to encourage and assist fiscally sound LGUs to access financing so they could invest in projects meant to stimulate local economies and create more jobs for their respective constituents,” Dominguez said.
