The Development Academy of the Philippines’ Center for Governance (CfG), in collaboration with the Productivity and Development Center (PDC), conducted a training course on strategic planning for the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) employees last December at the Astoria Plaza in Pasig City.

Mandated to provide quality expressways and safe toll facilities, the TRB plays a significant role in achieving the vision of President Rodrigo Duterte in infrastructure development to propel the country’s economic growth.

In order to effectively play its role, Engr. Abraham Sales, Executive Director II of the TRB, emphasized during his opening statement the importance of strategic planning in the successful implementation of the agency’s infrastructure projects.

A lot of challenges

As the TRB is expected to face a lot of challenges due to big projects in the future, Sales encouraged the participants to be active and to take the training seriously as learnings will not only help the agency but eventually the country as well.

The training was specifically designed to increase the competence of participants in facilitating the crafting of the key elements of the organization’s strategic plan.  It involved revisiting the organization’s mission and values statement, consensus building to define its long-term vision and strategic objectives, identifying key performance indicators and targets, and profiling strategic initiatives of the agency.

Mandate and vision revisited

During the three-day activity, the participants were able to revisit the agency’s mandate and envisioned future.  The sessions enlightened the TRB personnel on how to determine possible strategic objectives, as well as measures and initiatives to realize the organization’s vision.

In addition, the training provided a framework for the participants to analyze and assess the internal and external factors that affect the implementation and regulation of their programs and projects.

The TRB targets to be ISO 9001:2015 certified in 2017.  Thus, the participants were also introduced to the ways of managing risks effectively as this would be required for the said ISO certification.

The three-day training activity was facilitated by the DAP’s CfG-Operations Management Office (OMO) for 35 technical and administrative personnel of the TRB. – Peter Dan Baon