The DILG-NCR Project Development and Management Unit (PDMU), in partnership with the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) – Quezon City Chapter, conducted the AGSIKAP 2022, which stands for “Apprising Government Employees’ Skills on Infrastructure Projects, Knowledge on Monitoring and Evaluation, And Performance.” The activity was held on November 24, 2022 at the Hive Hotel, Quezon City.
AGSIKAP 2022 aims to empower and equip DILG-NCR’s field officers, particularly the Focal Persons for the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), with the engineering knowledge and skills necessary to perform Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) tasks more effectively.
In her opening message, DILG-NCRâs Regional Director Maria Lourdes L. Agustin, CESO III, reiterated the importance of acquiring a high level of technical expertise during the monitoring and evaluation phase of projects, especially when public funds are used to finance the same. It is equally important to master another layer of complexity brought about by the application of government financial controls and audit procedures.
For her part, Dir. Flora Ruiz, Director IV of the Commission on Audit and concurrent President of PICE-QC Chapter, also gave her perspective on the upskilling that AGSIKAP 2022 brings to the table, reiterating the objectives of the activity, which is to reinforce the knowledge and skills of DILG-NCR technical personnel in the monitoring and evaluation of infrastructure projects. She added that the activity aims to provide participants with a better understanding of the project development cycle and apprise them of the methods and techniques used in M&E while familiarizing them with the required forms and templates pertinent to LGSF-funded projects.
LGOO VI Luigi Pilarta, Assistant Division Chief of the Local Government Capability Development Division (LGCDD) of DILG-NCR, also gave participants an overview of the activity and the various subject areas that will be discussed in the training proper.
The resource persons from PICE-QC Chapter covered different aspects of project development, as follows: Engr. Robinson A. Salenga II – Introduction to the Project Development Phase, Engr. Diocel Harold M. Aquino, PhD – Fundamental Approach in Evaluating Infrastructure Projects, and Engr. Teresa Ty-Santiago – Familiarization on Technical Documentary Requirements in Construction.
The activity concluded with a message of thanks from DILG-NCR Assistant Regional Director Atty. Ana Lyn R. Baltazar-Cortez, CESO V to PICE-QC Chapter, for heeding the call of good governance and sharing with the DILG-NCR M&E teams the skills and expertise necessary to undertake the important work they do with competence and integrity.
âThe social and economic impact of projects has its own set of criteria and may not be the immediate concern at AGSIKAP, but delivering projects on time, on budget, and at the level of quality required certainly is,â Atty. Baltazar-Cortez added.