Members of the National Archives of the Philippines (NAP) facilitated a guided tour for officials of Pasig City’s Office of General Services – Records Management and Archives Division (OGS-RMAD) to share ways to improve the local government's archival capacities.
Established by the Republic Act No. 9470, or the “National Archives of the Philippines Act of 2007,” NAP is the country’s primary records management agency “where public archives shall be stored, preserved, conserved and made available to the public.”
“It shall plan, develop, prescribe, disseminate and enforce policies, rules and regulations and coordinate government-wide programs governing the creation, general protection, use, storage and disposition of public records including the acquisition, storage and preservation of public archives and providing facilities for reference, research or other purposes,” read the act.
During the benchmarking activity, the NAP presented to the OGS-RMAD, headed by Officer-in-Charge Atty. John Vincent I. Cernal, Officer-in-charge (OIC), their best practices and methods in ensuring proper archiving, along with relaying the NAP standards.
In particular, the Records Center Division (RCD) of NAP discussed “records transfer and accession, storage management, reference services, and pre-archivage.”
According to the Archives Preservation Division (APD), the goal of preservation is “to prolong the existence of archival records.”
They demonstrated their restoration techniques, and microfilming processes.
NAP’s main repository for non-current records, and microfiling collection were also showcased as they toured the NAP site at Cristobal Street, Paco, Manila.
Last Nov. 9 to 11, 2022, NAP conducted a seminar and workshop with the Pasig OGS-RMAD on Basic Records and Archives Management.
The workshop aimed to “enhance document planning, proper decision-making, and information preservation to maintain the division’s good recordkeeping and public accountability,” according to NAP.
The OGS-RMAD’s visit complements the continuous streamlining efforts and transparency mandate of the local government in making information accessible and convenient to the public, supplementary to the city’s Freedom of Information (FOI) ordinance.