3 PN Priorities

By DR. JESUS P. ESTANISLAO
Manila Bulletin, Thursday, September 15, 2010

Under the organization perspective, the Philippine Navy (PN) has listed three priorities, for which it presents several performance scorecards – each with initiatives, measures, and targets.

Under the first priority of “sound and appropriate and maritime doctrines," the initiative proposed is the validation of the soundness of maritime doctrines developed. Here, the measure is a percentage: Of the required doctrines developed, what is the percentage of those fully validated for appropriateness and soundness. The current base in 2010 is listed at only 10 percent. The targets for 2011, 2012, and 2013 are 20 percent, 30 percent, and 40 percent, respectively. For 2020, the target is 90-95 percent.

A lay observer who looks at this performance scorecard is left awed by the effort that must go into the validation of the appropriateness and soundness of the doctrines developed. The effort may involve continuing assessment and dynamic reformulation, taking into account the changing seascape that would confront the Philippines as a maritime nation. This initiative leaves a clear impression of the imperative for the Navy to develop a high level of strategic thinking, which has to be adapted to the particular circumstances of the fast-changing environment within which our nation operates.

The second priority of a “responsive naval reservists’ program” is to be pursued through the following initiative, to institute a sustainable PN reservists system. Two concrete measures, with corresponding targets, are proposed to monitor progress under this specific initiative. The first is the percentage fill-up of reservist positions: Starting at less than 20 percent in 2010, this should move up to 23 percent in 2011; 50 percent in 2012, 53 percent in 2013, and eventually 100 percent in 2020. The second is the reservists training readiness profile. This is now at 65 percent in 2010. The targets for the immediate succeeding years ahead are: 70 percent in 2011, 75 percent in 2012, 80 percent in 2013. By 2020, this percentage should hit 95 percent.

This initiative underscores the outreach program the Navy has to undertake with a view to winning many highly qualified applicants to its reservists’ program. Moreover, such a program should be designed to inculcate the core values in the PN Governance Charter, including deep loyalty and very high level commitment to – duly accompanied by competence required by – the PN Mission.

The third priority of a “dynamic and responsive naval organization” calls for two initiatives that the PN has committed to undertake. The first of these is to institute a reliable and responsive PN force structure. The proposed measure of progress for this initiative is the completion rate of the desired force structure. Now at 80 percent in 2010, this moves up to 90 percent in 2011 before finally reaching 100 percent as early as 2012. It will be maintained at that percent completion rate from 2013 onwards. The second initiative is to pursue ISO-certified PN systems. The measure of progress is straightforward: The number of PN units with ISO certification. In 2010, the figure set is one. Each year up to 2013, there should be one more PN unit obtaining ISO certification, and this increase should be sustained until the number reaches 10 PN units ISO-certified in 2020.

Benchmarking against global best practices and therefore obtaining ISO certification for various PN units would constitute an important step forward. They need to be complemented with the usual creativity and inventiveness of all Navy personnel: They are always called upon to innovate and bring up to the highest possible standard of effectiveness all processes within the organization, despite the perennial constraints under which the PN operates.