By Ron Cervantes

Last June 13-14, the Compliance and Business Excellence Department officially launched the awareness roadshow of the Business Continuity Management System with a theme, “Building Resilience: Learn from the Past, Prepare for the Future, Live in the Present” via ZOOM and Northloop’s Facebook group page.

This awareness program started with an inspirational message from Mr. J. Luigi Bautista, President and General Manager of NLEX Corporation, expressing our learnings from past experiences such as the global pandemic and the Tulaoc flooding, and how we coped with that.

“We are compelled to manage our business through uncertain times. And that is why we need to learn from past experiences…” he uttered.

It was followed by a podcast-type discussion to reminisce about the resilience experiences of the organization during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The exchange of viewpoints was composed of the representatives from the frontline groups of the company during this period; Mr. RC Bruno of the Occupational Safety and Health section of CBE, Mr. Jec Mercado of Traffic Operations, and Ms. Elaine Madrid and Bhong Nillo of Toll Operations. The flow of the chit-chat was divided into four phases, response, recover, resume, and restore.

The informative conversation aimed not just to recall the memories of that previous disruption among the employees who have experienced it, but also to highlight the knowledge the group has acquired from it.

After the fruitful recollection, it was trailed by a statistic stating that the Philippines has been consistent for 13 straight years from 2011 to 2023, ranking first on the World Risk Index (WRI). The WRI is a tool used to assess and estimate the disaster risk of countries, considering the vulnerability and exposure to hazards.

“Is the Philippines prepared?” “Is NLEX Corp. prepared?” and “Are you prepared? These were the questions asked to the audience after presenting the facts about the country’s risk status, especially to the highly feared disaster that might happen to us, “The Big One.”

Ms. Katherine Alfaro, Business Process Excellence Asst. Manager, explained the theme summing up the topics discussed and how is it important to the implementation of the ISO 22301 or Business Continuity Management System or BCMS.

With past experiences, it is very important to learn how we have survived them and use the knowledge to prepare for the possible disasters that might happen to us in the future. Ms. Alfaro also talked about the existing programs of the company concerning resiliency.

Lastly, she introduced the program that the organization wanted to establish within the employees not just for their work but also for their personal lives. This is the Oplan RESET.  

The Oplan RESET is the same as the framework of BCMS. It aims for the employees to use this process to review the risk of disruption that might happen to their lives. Produce strategies and solutions to resolve these risks. List the resources that they might need. Create their continuity plan. Test the feasibility and effectiveness of the plan, and then share it with their colleagues.

The whole roadshow was informative yet fun for the audience. It was a successful event that highlighted the accomplishments of NLEX during the tough times of the past.

It ended with closing remarks by Ms. Jas Co, the Assistant Vice President of CBE, and Ms. West Dionisio, the Vice President of Operations. They echoed the whole discussion during the event and pledged the commitment of the organization to BCMS before the certification.

This two-day event was attended by almost 400 employees across NLEX-SCTEX, and the recorded live stream was viewed 880 times. It was hosted by Mr. Aldrin Oquendo of ESH, and Ms. Len Jorge of BPE.

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