The Regional Operation and Maintenance Audit Team (ROMAT) from Regional Field Office (RFO) CALABARZON underwent training on the Operations and Maintenance Audit System (OMAS), spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Project Support Office (PSO) South Luzon I-BUILD Component and Monitoring and Evaluation Unit from August 29 – September 1, 2023 in Catanauan, Quezon. 

The training aims to provide the ROMAT, which comprised of organic personnel from DA, with a thorough understanding on the auditing system for subprojects funded through the Project.

The activity includes discussions on OMAS tools and rating system, functions of the ROMAT, and retooling on the use of the web-based data capture form known as KoboToolbox, among others.

During his presentation, NPCO GIS Data Specialist Stephen Mangupag underscored the critical role played by the ROMAT and elaborated the importance of the conduct of OMAS for completed subprojects.

The OMAS is a monitoring tool of the DA-PRDP that is designed to assess the performance of the LGUs in the implementation of the operation and maintenance of completed DA-PRDP subprojects.

The plenary discussion was followed by a field visit to the Construction of  San Isidro – Bolo – San Vicente Kanluran – San Vicente Silangan – Sta. Maria DAO Farm-to-Market Road to conduct an actual Operation and Maintenance Audit, where the subproject received a ‘satisfactory’ rating.

The four-day training concluded with an encoding activity for the OMAS results and a feedback session with LGU Catanauan. ###