National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) has conducted a five-day online training for administrative vice ministers and deputy vice minister-level officials of the Philippine government from January 24 to 28, 2022.

Requested by Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), the program is designed to help participants learn the theory and best practices of phronetic leadership and compare them with those of the Philippines for their future work. In 2018 and 2019, the training was conducted in Japan, but since last year, it has been conducted online due to the impact of COVID-19.

This year, the training focused on the government’s response to COVID-19, and lectures on leadership, health care and economic issues were given by Dr. Ayano Nishihara (associate professor, Rikkyo University), Mr. Masaei Matsunaga (Advisor to Director General, Governance & Peacebuilding Department, JICA), Mr. Ikuo Takizawa (Senior Deputy Director General, Human Development Department, JICA), Mr. Hideki Tarumi (former Administrative Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), Dr. Taichi Ono (professor, GRIPS) and Prof. Ken Nibayashi (GRIPS). In each lecture, many practical questions were asked by the participants, and lively Q & A sessions were held.

On the last day, under the facilitation of Prof. Kiyotaka Yokomichi (Program Director; Director of Executive Development Center for Global Leadership, GRIPS), the participants reviewed what they had learned during the training.