Two hundred sixty-three local government units (LGUs) passed the 2018 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), the most challenging standard set by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) thus far.
“Congratulations to the 2018 awardees for besting the ‘all-in’ assessment criteria of SGLG. This is a testimony that LGUs in our country are continuously striving to improve the quality of service to the people,” DILG OIC Secretary Eduardo M. Año says.
Out of 1,682 LGUs assessed by the DILG nationwide, the awardees composed of 17 provinces, 39 cities, and 207 municipalities, met the ‘all-in’ performance indicators of the seven governance areas: financial administration; disaster preparedness; social protection; peace and order; business-friendliness and competitiveness; environmental management; and tourism, culture and the arts.
"For the past years, the number of awardees have grown even with SGLG's parameter upgrades. Understandably, the awardees decreased this year with the scaled-up assessment criteria from ‘4+1’ to ‘all-in’,” he says.
Last year, 449 LGUs were conferred with the SGLG for passing the '4+1' criteria which only required four core areas and at least one essential area.
The DILG Chief noted that 35 LGUs have consistently bagged the award since it started in 2015 including Iloilo province, Mandaluyong City, Kapatagan municipality (in Lanao del Norte), to name a few.
He also pointed out that annually raising the standards of SGLG do not deter LGUs from improving as demonstrated by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
“ARMM has been doing wonders. From zero in 2015 and six in 2016, the region took home 20 awards in 2017 and increased to 23 this year amid an ascending bar of SGLG criteria,” he says.
Año says that as an incentive, this year’s recipients will receive the 2018 SGLG marker; eligibility to the DILG Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) to finance their local development projects; and access to other programs and capacity development assistance from the DILG.
Region 1 tops anew
DILG Spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Jonathan E. Malaya, reveals that Ilocos Region and Central Luzon garnered again the highest number of SGLG awardees with 51 and 43, respectively.
CALABARZON is at third spot with 24 awardees, followed by ARMM with 23, and Cagayan Valley with 22.
Western Visayas claims sixth spot with 21 awardees, Zamboanga Peninsula with 11, Northern Mindanao and CARAGA both with 10, SOCCSKSARGEN with nine, and Bicol Region with eight.
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Eastern Visayas both have seven awardees, respectively; while National Capital Region (NCR) and Davao Region both have five awardees. MIMAROPA has four and Central Visayas has three.
Institutionalization of SGLG
Malaya says that Senate’s move to institutionalize DILG’s SGLG through Senate Bill No. 1843 proves the effectiveness of the program in promoting good governance in the country.
“SGLG is the concrete program of the national government in recognizing and incentivizing good performance of LGUs based on comprehensive standards done through an objective assessment. That’s why it’s a seal, a badge of honor to recipient LGUs,” he says.
Last month, the Senate has approved Senate Bill No. 1843 with 19 affirmative votes, no negative vote and zero abstention, on its third and final reading.
“There is no better way to ensure the continuity of a good program like SGLG but to enshrine it into the law of the land,” he says. # Source – www.dilg.gov.ph
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