The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) has embraced digital transformation to continue to honor its advocacy of improving the lives of veterans in the country.

In support of its 2028 Kagitingan Roadmap, the 400–strong service organization instituted technological upgrades to help improve the agency’s overall performance amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move to update the agency’s technological resources was done through the General Support Services and Management Division (GSSMD)—the critical support unit tasked with the provision of supplies to ensure operational continuity.

“We will be going into a lot of automation and we will be needing advances in devices that would support [our] move to automation,” stated Engr. Valerico C. Lim III, MNSA, GSSMD Division Chief in an online interview.

“FAST-TRACKED TO ADAPTING TO TECHNOLOGY”

For Lim, technology played a key role to ensure that PVAO remains updated to new methods of delivering service in a pandemic setting.

“We were fast-tracked to adapting to technology. Somehow, we were cornered and pushed to apply it immediately dahil sa (because of the) pandemic,” he added.

Digitizing internal processes made it easier for Maria Lily Biscocho, Head of the Administrative Support Unit of the GSSMD, to monitor service requests while minimizing face-to-face interaction.

“The pandemic somehow forced us to be more creative in our work,” Biscocho shared.

However, the push for digital transition was initially met with human resistance. One of the barriers that the Claims Division (CD) and Finance Division (FD) encountered was the pushback of senior stakeholders who lack the technical skills and know-how.

Maira Janice C. Jarito, CD Head of Administrative Records and Communications Section, was at the frontline of operations. “May mga ibang claimants talaga na they prefer to be there (front-line service) kasi mas gusto din nila yung physical (transaction),” she explained. (There are claimants who really prefer to be at the front-line service because they still favor physical transactions.)

For Maria Jacqueline P. Manggera, FD Budget Officer II, some of her team members “actually refuse to take advantage of what’s available” because of the lack of technical competence.

“We engage them in their upskilling first. And we identified what skills and capabilities we need to enhance to keep up with these changes,” she shared in the online interview.

“TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES WERE ADDRESSED BY PROCURING DEVICES”

Since divisions were steadily shifting to automation, a lot of the agency’s processes would require the need of a gadget. “What PVAO did was procure the necessary equipment needed to support that thrust going into automation,” said Lim.

During its 75th founding anniversary in January 2022, PVAO purchased 147 units of the ASUS ExpertBook B1500 to strengthen its service operations.

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When asked about how the ASUS laptops helped with each of their workflows, Lim cited the laptop’s value for money while Biscocho and Jarito pointed out the user-friendly and portability features.

From a budget officer’s perspective, Manggera mentioned that “ASUS products are worthy of our investment.” “I strongly recommend ASUS for the ease of use it gives me, it gives our team. And how it saves time in process[ing] our tasks plus the mobility options we all get from it,” she explained.

The ASUS devices will also be used to support the agency’s Kagitingan Roadmap 2028. PVAO, under the Department of National Defense, created the transformation roadmap that outlined various initiatives and projects to ensure the welfare and well-being of veterans and promote their heroic deeds.