REVENUE MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 80-2018 issued on September 7, 2018 publishes the full text of the Government Quality Management Committee (GQMC) Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2018-1, entitled “Guidelines on the Validation of the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Certification as a Requirement for the Grant of the FY 2018 Performance-Based Bonus”.

     As declared in the joint International Standards Operation (ISO)/International Accreditation Forum (IAF) Communique dated September 15, 2017 that all ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System (QMS) certificates will expire and no longer be valid by September 15, 2018, the Agency QMS thereafter shall be under the ISO 9001:2015 version. Only a valid ISO 9001:2015 QMS certificate is required for the PBB 2018 grant.

     In addition, certifications/registrations/awards to similar standards relating to Total Quality Management (TQM), e.g., Philippine Quality Award, ISO/IEC 17025, ISO 17020, and Qmentum Accreditation Canada, could be considered in the entitlement to the FY 2018 PBB. The validity of the ISO 9001:2015 QMS and TQM Certifications/Recertifications, as indicated in the Certificate, must be until December 31, 2018 or a later date, i.e., 2019 and beyond.

     The scope of the QMS indicated in the agency’s ISO 9001 Certificate shall cover at least one (1) core process or frontline service as mandated under its existing pertinent laws. For frontline agencies, the core process pertains to an agency process most demanded by citizens and business and targeted for improvement.

     The ISO 9001:2015 QMS certifications must be issued by any of the Certification Bodies (CBs) accredited by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) member. Agencies are encouraged to have their ISO QMS certified by CBs which are duly accredited by the DTI-PAB. The CBs contracted shall have been accredited to audit and certify QMS for specified scope, particularly under ISO 9001 QMS for IAF 36 – Public Administration, IAF 37 – Education, IAF 38 – Health and Social Work, among other areas or scope.

     Letters of attestation issued by CBs indicating that certification/recertification audits have been completed but subject to approval of their Certificate Decision Maker will not be considered as fulfilling the ISO requirements based on the AO 25 IATF MC 2018-1.

     All Agency ISO 9001 QMS Certification(s)/Recertification(s) must be posted in its Transparency Seal (TS) webpage not later than December 31, 2018. A certified-true copy of the Agency’s ISO QMS Certificate(s) shall be submitted to the GQMC, through the DBM Secretariat – Systems and Productivity Improvement Bureau (SPIB), immediately after obtaining an ISO QMS Certificate or Recertification not later than December 31, 2018, for verification purposes.

     The GQMC-DBM Secretariat (SPIB) shall submit to the AO 25 IATF its findings on the compliance of agencies with the ISO QMS-related requirements to serve as basis for determining their eligibility to the FY 2018 PBB not later than January 31, 2019.

     Officials and employees responsible for the implementation of the QMS certification shall not be entitled to the FY 2018 PBB if the Department/Agency fails to comply with ISO 9001:2015 Certificate requirements.