Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA), through the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), conducted a three-day Technical Assistance on Strengthening Risk Management (SRM) Capability Training and Workshop held at the University Hotel, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City and via teleconference on October 26-28, 2022.  

The three-day course intends to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the Risk Management (RM) Core Team of the PFDA on the principles, framework, and processes defined in ISO 31000:2018 RM guidelines. According to DAP, an in-depth understanding of said topics will allow the participants to identify areas for strengthening the RM vis-a-vis the ISO 9001:2015-certified QMS, including existing activities, approaches, and documented information.

In September 2022, the PFDA and DAP signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the implementation of ISO 9001:2015 QMS risk-based thinking through the adoption of ISO 31000:2018 RM guidelines. This partnership’s project timeline and modality will run until December 2022.

PFDA Officer-in-Charge General Manager Ms. Iris R. de Vera expressed her appreciation to DAP for choosing PFDA as one of the beneficiaries of this training on risk management. During her opening speech, OICGM de Vera emphasized the importance of risk management in an organization like PFDA.

“This training on risk management will be very useful dahil sa susunod na mga taon, we can focus on the plan that we are going to prepare. Itong enhancement na gagawin natin sa existing plan natin ay magagamit talaga natin. Tandaan natin na marami tayong mga pagsubok sa ating kapaligiran. We must make an action plan to mitigate all those risks that we have identified and will identify in the future,” OICGM de Vera said.  

OICGM de Vera also noted that this three-day training and workshop is very timely for the agency to finalize and make a more accurate risk management plan using the new template based on the latest ISO guidelines on risk management.

Ms. Jane C. Javier of the DAP Project Team served as the resource speaker for the three-day workshop. During the training, Ms. Javier discussed three different modules that are very relevant to risk management. Firstly, Ms. Javier talked about the relevance of Risk Management in QMS, followed by the ISO 31000 Risk Management Principles and Framework. Lastly, Ms. Javier discussed the ISO 31000 RM Process. Participants also studied Risk Review and Monitoring and Risk Recording and Reporting.

Some 30 participants from the PFDA Central Office and Regional Fish Ports (RFP) actively participated during the three-day SRM training and workshop. The workshop was organized by the Project Evaluation Division - Operations Services Department.

(Mark Angelo N. Perez with photos from Paul Vincent R. del Rosario and Johnny A. Basamot – Public Information Division)