President Fidel V. Ramos presented a citation to the National Statistics Office (NSO) in recognition of its pioneering efforts to participate in the first cycle of the Philippine Quality Award (PQA) for the Public Sector. The awarding ceremonies was held at the Heroes Hall, Malacañang last June 3.

The PQA is the highest form of national recognition given to public and business organization for outstanding quality performance. It has been designed to challenge Philippine organizations to achieve world-class excellence by continuously improving on quality. The NSO was given the special citation for its sustained drive to systematically upgrade the quality of its operations and outputs, and thus better serve its customer.

Administrator Tomas P. Africa said that despite the limited resources and the many trials and difficulties, the NSO managed to have taken the important step towards the delivery of quality public service. The recognition, according to him, is a manifestation that government service can also strive to keep pace with private organization in being globally competitive. He is positive that the citation will inspire and will encourage NSO officials and employees both in the central and regional offices to continue to aspire for quality improvements with more dedication.