The Department of Foreign Affairs – Office of Policy Planning and Coordination (DFA-OPPC), in partnership with the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), conducted the Course on Strategic Planning for DFA Heads of Offices and Planning Officers from 1 to 3 February 2016 at the Diamond Hotel, Manila.

The OPPC initiated the conduct of this three-day course with the goal of refining the Department’s Strategic Planning culture. It was designed to impart knowledge to DFA Heads of Offices in the Home Office, their executive directors and their alternate planning officers, on the relevant concepts and developments in strategic planning, in preparation for their subsequent role in the next DFA Strategic Plan.

To complement conventional lectures, training strategies such as structured group discussions, critical brainstorming and presentations (with expert feedback) were interspersed throughout the course to encourage active participation and generate output.

The course was facilitated by Dr. Ma. Oliva Z. Domingo, Professor at the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), University of the Philippines–Diliman (UPD). Representatives from the two best performing national government agencies: Mr. Winecito L. Tan, Deputy Director of the Corporate Planning Office of Bangko Sentral ng PIlipinas (BSP) and Mr. Rowel D. Escalante, Chief Administrative Officer of the Planning and Management Service of Department of Budget and Management (DBM), shared their respective office’s strategic planning experiences and best practices.