THE Department of Finance (DOF) announced last Thursday of having maintained its International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification for its compliance with global standards.
A statement issued by the DOF read that the department sustained its ISO 9001:2015 certification for eight years, following a third surveillance audit conducted in September 2025.
By securing an ISO certification, an organization’s management system, process, service, or documentation procedure has met all the global requirements for standardization and quality assurance set by the International Organization for Standardization.
According to the non-governmental body, ISO 9001 is a standard ‘that sets out the requirements for a quality management system. It helps businesses and organizations to be more efficient and improve customer satisfaction.’
‘This stamp of approval from the ISO is evidence of the kind of public service that we at the DOF are committed to delivering. At the DOF, there is no room for ‘just good enough.’ Everything must be aligned with global standards,’ Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto was quoted as saying in the statement.
The ISO 9001:2015 Certification for its Quality Management System is the most widely recognized quality management standard in the world.
An external team regularly conducts surveillance audits to verify continuous adherence to ISO standards. The third Surveillance Audit on the DOF was carried out on September 17 and 18, 2025.
The audit covered the DOF’s core processes, such as the granting of tax exemptions on importations by the Revenue Office (RO), the support services provided by the Policy Development and Management Services Group, and the functions of the Legal Affairs Office.
The DOF received a feedback score of 99.55 percent in the service quality dimension during the second quarter of 2025.
In 2017, the DOF secured its first ISO 9001 certification (2008 version), covering the core processes of the RO and the Municipal Development Fund Office, and the updated 2015 version later that same year.
Since then, the DOF has maintained its certification through successful recertification audits conducted in 2021 and 2024, alongside annual surveillance audits.