John B. Lacson Colleges Foundation-Arevalo, Inc., University of Santo Tomas and Centro Escolar University, and shipping firm NYK-Fil Ship Management, Inc. have achieved this year’s Philippine Quality Award (PQA).

Trade and Industry Secretary Peter B. Favila praised these organizations for their continuous improvement in their quality management system.

"These improvements enabled them to achieve world class status in their respective fields which will impact on the goods and services on that they provide to their customers."

PQA is patterned from the very prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award of the United States.

It was established in 1997, through E.O. 448 signed by then President Fidel V. Ramos and was institutionalized through R.A. 9013 also known as the Philippine Quality Award Act on February 28, 2001 by Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The PQA sets the standard of excellence to help Philippine business organizations achieve world-class performance.

"The country must produce world class products and services, thus, it is imperative that our organizations meet the stringent international requirements of quality standards," Favila said.

In a global economy, we need world class organizations such as this year’s recipients that will help the country compete to gain more markets for the country’s produce, Favila added.

The PQA levels of recognition trophies were given to the following successful applicants: John B. Lacson Colleges Foundation–Arevalo, Inc. for Commitment to Quality Management; University of Santo Tomas and Centro Escolar University for Proficiency to Quality Management; and NYK-Fil Ship Management, Incorporated for Mastery to Quality Management.

Proficiency in Quality Management, for which CEU and UST were cited, is given to firms that implemented quality and productivity management principles, significant processes in building sound and notable processes.

The PQA levels of recognition are awarded to organizations that demonstrated commitment to improvement, proficiency in quality management and mastery in quality management.

Commitment to Improvement is awarded to organizations that exhibited serious commitment to improvement in order to achieve quality excellence. It should have planted the seeds of quality and productivity and is working toward reaping the longterm benefits of its efforts.

Mastery in Quality Management is conferred to when firm’s practices and achievements and superior results are clearly linked to robust management systems. It should exhibit practices, which other organizations can learn from and should serve as a role model for other organizations in the Philippines PQA recipients are expected to share their exceptional management practices as benchmarks with other organizations that are on similar journey to performance excellence.