Productivity Enhancement and Development Action with the Local Government Units (PEDAL)

The PEDAL is the centerpiece strategy of DTI Region 02 in bringing its service right in the heart of its clientele. It is a strategy that creates a web of productive partnership among the members of the community where it operates. With the Department’s two-pronged mission of “Enabling Business and Empowering Consumers”, the PEDAL impacts strongly on leadership, strategic planning and deployment, and customer and citizen focus.

Background and Problem

The DTI is committed in the improvement of the quality of life of Filipinos and in the reduction of poverty through inclusive economic growth and employment generation, with a focus on expanding exports, increasing investments, supporting and strengthening micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), ensuring value for money of consumers, and pursuing good governance. However, DTI Region 02 identified the following operational deficiencies:

• Visibility of DTI Region 02 was only observed in few municipalities (about only 20% at the time);
• The visitation of different staff to Local Government Units (LGUs) within the locality to coordinate various aspects of DTI services resulted to confusion as the Local Chief Executive would be dealing with several DTI personnel which further resulted to non-congruity/non-synchronization of project implementation;
• No staff was responsible/accountable for the municipalities’ concerns;
• Complete package of programs, projects, and services were not delivered;
• There was no equitable and rationalized distribution of programs, projects, and resources; and
• No standardization of staff workloads and targets

Solution and Impact

To address the said deficiencies, the PEDAL was designed which underlies the general scenario that all DTI personnel operate in the municipalities with their respective constituents. In order to do this, DTI Region 02 modified its official organizational structure and came up with an operational one to accelerate and upgrade its services, with the designation of Municipal Trade and Industry Officers (MTIOs), who are assigned to a number of municipalities, to handle: five to six Senior Trade and Industry Development Specialist (STIDS);  three to four Trade and Industry Development Specialist (TIDS); and two to three Trade and Industry Development Analyst (TIDA), depending on the size of the provinces. In this case, it is imperative for a technical staff to know and learn the programs, activities, and projects of DTI. The said strategy was enforced throughout the whole organization. While initially, there was resistance from other staff, this is now well accepted and has proven to be effective and efficient in the delivery of services and in empowering the personnel of the organization, thus deepening their service commitment. The initiative also made the DTI more visible in the municipalities. The constituents of the municipalities have now an array of awareness levels with regards to DTI programs, activities, and projects. The number of MSMEs created had also increased; consumers are better informed of their rights and responsibilities; and compliance to the Fair Trade Laws are strictly being monitored.

Milestones

The PEDAL is both a managerial and an operational initiative that was envisioned to reach out and cover all the ninety-three (93) municipalities of Region 02, comprising the Provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino. DTI Region 02, through the PEDAL, was able to:

• Address the above-mentioned organizational deficiencies;
• Paved the way for the “Ramdam-effect” of the projects (i.e. the projects were really felt by the citizens) of DTI which include the Industry Clustering, Shared Service Facilities, and Bottom-Up Budgeting; and
• Became more innovative in the implementation of programs, activities, and projects such as:
  • Village enterprises;
  • The Progressive Operation of Women in Entrepreneurship Revolution (POWER) of 37;
  • Filipino Consumer on Patrol (FILCOP);
  • Improved Market Operations for Vigilant, Efficient and Responsive Services (I-MOVERS);
  • Modified SME Roving Academy; and
  • Trade Fair Facilitation.