16 Palawan towns get into Good Financial Housekeeping list

Sixteen towns in Palawan made it to the preliminary list of the “Seal of Good Housekeeping” awards for 2018 of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). Qualified are the towns of Aborlan, Araceli, Agutaya, Bataraza, Brooke’s Point, Busuanga, Cagayancillo, Cullion, Coron, Cuyo, Dumaran, El Nido, Narra, Roxas, Kalayaan and Sofronio Española. Mario Daquer, DILG provincial director, said Thursday that seven other municipalities — Balabac, Linapacan, Magsaysay, Quezon, Rizal, San Vicente and Taytay — also qualified but will have to comply with necessary. requirements “Binigyan pa sila ng chance ng DILG para maisama sila sa final list. Ang maganda kasi kapag may ganito kang award ay mabilis kang pagkatiwalaan ng gobyerno sa pag-implementa ng mga proyekto, kung hindi ka naman pumasa, province ang mag-i-implement. But last year majority naman sa kanila may ganitong award, medyo marami lang hinihingi kaya dapat ma-comply na nila as soon as possible,” Daquer said. (The DILG gave them the chance to be included in the final list. What’s good about this award is that you’re easily trusted to implement projects, and if you don’t pass, the province will implement. But last year, a majority of them were able to get the same award, it’s just that there are so many requirement to comply as soon as possible.) Most of the towns in the province also received the Seal of Good Housekeeping award in 2017. Aborlan acting Mayor Lito Tito told Palawan News that they are glad to receive the award which showed the efforts of their local government in the financial aspect of good governance. “Masaya tayo dahil isa tayo sa mga munisipyo na naka-comply doon sa requirements ng DILG. ‘Yan naman ang gusto natin na makita din ng tao kung paano o ano ang ating sistema pagdating sa pinansyal,” Tito said. (We’re happy because we are one of the municipalities that was able to comply the requirements of the DILG. It’s the kind of financial system we want people here to see.) For Narra Mayor Lucena Demaala, the award will help them in the implementation of more projects. “Of course, nakaka-proud kasi advantage ito sa aming mga munisipyo na dahil madali kaming pagkatiwalaan ng mga pondo para mag-implement ng mga pro- jects,” Demaala said. (Of course, we are proud because this is an advantage to us in the municipal government as we are able to be trusted when it comes to handling funds for project implementations.) According to the DILG, 86 percent of all local government units ( LGUs) in the Philippines have passed the good financial housekeeping standards such as financial transparency. Of the 1,470 LGUs that complied with the standard set, 60 came from the MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) region. Only 245 LGUs nationwide did not pass the standards for financial transparency, the DILG said.