DFA Consular Office in Tacloban Staff Complete Crisis Management, Assistance-To-Nationals (CMAN) eLearning Course

The Department of Foreign Affairs Consular Office in Tacloban Officer-in-Charge Charlie Q. Cinco awards the completion certificates to Consular Office’s staff who completed the CMAN eLearning Course. (DFA Tacloban CO photo)

TACLOBAN CITY 04 June 2020 – A total of 11 staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs Consular Office in Tacloban completed the Crisis Management and Assistance to Nationals (CMAN) eLearning Course amid the COVID-19, which ran from 16 April to 15 May 2020.

The staff, who were affected by the local community quarantine and who were on work-from-home (WFH) and skeleton workforce arrangement, made use of their time while in their home to enroll and complete the said course. The platform utilized by the elearning course was complementary with the alternative working arrangements currently implemented by the Department in light with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aimed to develop personnel’s competencies and skills in handling emergency situations, the course introduced effective and efficient tools that contribute to the existing operational guidelines on crises management. The course is deemed to be timely and relevant as key learnings can be applied with the current challenges posed by the COVID crisis. The Consular Office’s staff learned strategies to become responsive in addressing concerns of its clients and pushing forward their best interests, Filipinos and foreign nationals alike, during most vulnerable situations.

“Due to the number of alarming cases brought by the pandemic crisis, the Crisis Management and Assistance-To-Nationals (CMAN) eLearning Course is one of the effective platforms for us Consular Officers to have an ample knowledge and be able to provide assistance in uplifting the welfare and rebuilding the morale of the affected Filipino people,” said Mr. Joemark P. Villarez, one of the staff who completed the course.

“The current COVID-19 pandemic ignited better appreciation and learning of the CMAN eLearning Course as it provided me more vivid pictures of what is and what can actually happen on the ground–everything takes from pre- to post-crisis managament,” said Ms. Ruth C. Lopega as she shared her realizations.

Key takeaways and learnings were applied through continued provision of consular services of Consular Office in Tacloban which remained to be open to the public amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, extending passporting services particularly to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and those with emergency and urgent cases. The Consular Office’s staff has also provided repatriation assistance to stranded nationals within Eastern Visayas region since the beginning of the implementation of community quarantine in March, assisting nine domestic sweeper flights from Tacloban to Manila carrying a total of 397 nationals. This is in addition to the 211 stranded foreign nationals (SFNs) whose locations were verified and 48 foreigners directly contacted by the Consular Office.

The learning opportunity was made possible through the Department’s Human Resource Management Office (HRMO), Foreign Service Institute (FSI), and Consular Office in Tacloban. END

(DFA Tacloban CO photos)