To respond to the country’s development agendas, higher educational institutions should not just be well-functioning; they must have “very relevant and up-to-date appropriate institutional policies.”

This was what former Department of Science and Technology (DOST) secretary William G. Padolina said during his keynote message at the UPSkill: The UPPO Certification Program-Batch 2 (UPSkill) held on July 15 at the UP Diliman Institute of Biology Auditorium.

“It’s not just procurement, it’s recruitment, promotion, access to information, how you treat your students, because they are going to be the ‘feed’ for your future talent pool. The rules of the game… will be determined by how you will be able to develop new talent and of course, retain them,” he said.

This is the second edition of the UPSkill Certification Program, a five-day series of training for procurement personnel and other registered participants in the procurement processes of the University.

According to UP System Procurement Office Director Flor L. Ofilada, UPSkill is “designed to provide an efficient procurement process for the whole university.”