Fri | 01.24.2020 | 3:00 PM

The International Standardization Organization (ISO) 9001:2015 certificate awarded to PAGCOR by certifying body SOCOTEC Certification International after the agency passed the three-day audit on the agency’s three corporate offices (Ermita, Malate and Pasay), Casino Filipino (CF) Tagaytay, CF Angeles (Main) and Citystate Satellite.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has strengthened its commitment to quality management and risk-based thinking in its business processes after it was recertified to International Standardization Organization (ISO) 9001:2015 by the SOCOTEC Certification Philippines, Inc. (SCPI) on January 10, 2020.

PAGCOR’s recertification, which was ceremonially awarded on January 23, 2020, will be valid until January 11, 2023 subject to satisfactory surveillance audits.

During SOCOTEC’s audit held on December 16 to 19, 2019, PAGCOR’s “Gaming operations, Casino Licensing and Regulation and Corporate Social Responsibility” were assessed.

Among the covered sites for recertification were the three PAGCOR Corporate offices (Ermita, Malate and Pasay) and Casino Filipino (CF) Tagaytay. Two additional sites – CF Angeles (Main) and Citystate Satellite were also newly certified to ISO 9001:2015.

An upgraded version of the ISO 9001:2008, the ISO 9001:2015 includes the adoption of risk-based thinking in management and business processes, involvement of top management, assessment and measurement of inputs and outputs of a business process.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea D. Domingo who received the certificate along with the members of the Board said that the agency takes pride in being recertified as this attests PAGCOR's commitment to continuously improve its operations.

"This means we are doing our job well, our current system works and we strictly follow the processes. But we will not stop here. We will continue to work hard and improve so we could contribute more to our nation," Domingo said.

Prior to the ISO 9001:2015 recertification, PAGCOR went through the stage one audit or documents review by SOCOTEC on December 9, 2019. The certifying body then confirmed that PAGCOR’s Quality Management System was sufficient to warrant a stage two audit, which they conducted a week after.

SOCOTEC Certification International General Manager Xavier Daniel said that to be audited and certified by an external certifying body is advantageous to any company. "To be audited by a third party company is different. It comes from external auditors who are going to assess all things and processes. We ask questions, we give some inputs and provide recommendations so that the company can perform better," he said.

Daniel also urged PAGCOR to continue what the agency is doing. "Our recommendations are for the improvement of the company, so it's important to use the audit report and do the auditors' recommendations. We will come back next year to check the improvements," he added.

SOCOTEC is an international French company, which is a major player in the testing, inspection and certification market. They operate in more than 25 countries and has over 20,000 clients worldwide. In the Philippines, they handled around 1,000 companies, 40 percent of which are government institutions and local government units.

Apart from PAGCOR, other government agencies that are already ISO 9001:2015 certified are the Department of Energy, Governance Commission for GOCCs, Department of Foreign Affairs, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, Philippine Statistics Authority and Philippine Reclamation Authority, among others.

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