23 LGUs conferred Seal of Good Local Governance

THE DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government conferred the coveted Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) to 23 local government units in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Cordillera officials including local DILG officers joined at least 448 local government units all over the country who have passed the test of good governance and were recognized by the DILG officials at the Manila Hotel on Sunday November 25.

Mountain Province Governor Bonifacio Lacwasan and Kalinga Governor Jocel Baac led the awardees in the provincial level for the Cordillera Region.

In the municipal level, awardees were the local government units of Bucay, Dolores, La Paz, San Juan, Tubo and Penarrubia for Abra; Conner, Kabugao, Luna, Pudtol and Santa Marcela for Apayao; Buguias, Itogon, La Trinidad and Tublay for Benguet , Asipulo, Banaue and Lamut for Ifugao; and Bauko, Bontoc and Paracelis for Mountain Province.

Cordillera municipal mayors, municipal local government operations officers and other officials received the awards in behalf of their LGUs.

In a statement, DILG Officer-in-Charge Catalino Cuy said he is jubilant with the increase of the total number of LGUs that have achieved the good governance standards of

the SGLG which symbolizes integrity and good performance through continuing governance reform and sustained local development.

There were 448 LGUs who achieved the good governance standards of the SGLG this year compared to only 306 last year. The DILG also improved its assessment with 1,715 LGUs evaluated.

To qualify for the SGLG, LGUs must comply with the '4+1’ assessment criteria. They must pass four core areas namely financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection, and peace and order. They must also pass at least one essential area, either, business friendliness and competitiveness; tourism, culture and the arts; or environmental protection.

Awardees are conferred with a SGLG marker to be placed in their provincial, city, or municipal halls and qualify for the Performance Challenge Fund, an incentive in millions of pesos to be used for local development projects. PIA CAR