The WCO organized a Leadership and Management Development (LMD) workshop for the top executives of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) of The Philippines from 29 March - 2 April 2022. The objective of the four-day interactive retreat was to support the BOC management team in its further development of leadership and management skills, with a focus on sustaining the momentum of the key reforms introduced in the past few years and on building a resilient administration in light of lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. This mission was supported by the United Kingdom through the WCO’s Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Trade Facilitation Capacity Building Programme.
Mr. Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, BOC Commissioner and the members of his top executive team participated in the off-site workshop. The workshop was tailor-made to address the current needs, requirements and main challenges of the BOC, which were assessed based on the responses to a questionnaire. As the BOC may see a change in leadership in the upcoming months in light of the 2022 Philippines’ elections, the main focus was on safeguarding the sustainability of the key reforms and the remarkable progress achieved by the current administration. In addition, the executive team considered more possible permanent structures and processes to address future calamities in light of the recent experience with COVID-19.
Through a mix of presentations, dialogues and exercises, various concepts and theories of modern leadership and management were discussed. One of the biggest takeaways for the participants was that true leadership involved enabling and nurturing capacity and greatness throughout the organisation, in turn creating leaders at all levels. Making oneself dispensable for the organisation. Participants especially enjoyed and benefited from the various exercises designed for building trust in teams and learning negotiation skills.
The mission also served to identify areas for future cooperation for the April 2022 - April 2025 phase of the WCO’s ‘Accelerate Trade Facilitation’ Programme supported by HMRC. The WCO looks forward to continue supporting the BOC on its journey within the framework of the WCO-BCO Mercator Implementation Plan for effective implementation of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement.
Additional information on the ‘Accelerate Trade Facilitation’ Programme can be found here.
For more information on the WCO Leadership and Management Development Programme, please contact Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org.