Manila: The Philippines has partnered with Singapore to elevate the digital leadership competencies of Filipino civil servants, as part of the Marcos administration's efforts to make the Philippine bureaucracy more innovative and efficient. The memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the Philippine Civil Service Digital Leadership Program (DLP) was presented to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in a ceremony at Malaca±an Palace in Manila.

According to Philippines News Agency, the MOA was signed by Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairperson Marilyn Yap, National University of Singapore's Institute of Systems Science (NUS-ISS) chief executive officer Khoon Chan Meng, and Private Sector Jobs and Skills Corporation (PCORP) chairperson Alfredo Ayala on February 12. In a keynote speech, Marcos emphasized the collaboration as a step towards building a modernized public sector workforce.

The Philippine Civil Service DLP aims to equip public sector leaders with the knowledge and tools to lead digital initiatives effectively and drive innovation within government institutions. Initiated with the support of the Ayala Group, the SM Group, and the Temasek Foundation, the program is designed to upskill mid-level to senior-level public officials in digital leadership, aligning with the Philippine government's national innovation agenda and digital transformation goals.

The program consists of two phases, with the first phase featuring two pilot sessions in Singapore. Participants will undergo intensive three-day training conducted by the NUS-ISS. The initiative is expected to benefit over 10,000 civil servants. Early results of the program have been promising, with the first batch of 30 representatives from the CSC completing their pilot training in Singapore earlier this month.

Marcos highlighted that these civil servants, having gained skills in digital leadership, citizen-centric design, and data-driven decision making, will become catalysts in leading the digital transformation of the Philippine bureaucracy.