111 Bicol LGUs bag financial housekeeping seal
Sorsogon City - More than a hundred local government units in Bicol Region had passed the Seal Good Financial Housekeeping (SGFH), one of the major criteria for the coveted Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG).
This was announced by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in its website with the latest batch of passers published last March 15.
Based on the report all provincial and city governments in the region have hurdled the SGFH while only 98 out of the 107 municipalities have so far qualified.
The list of first batch passers released on January 31, 2019 include Guinobatan, Jovellar, Malilipot, Oas, Polangui, Rapu-Rapu, Santo Domingo and Tiwi in Albay province; Basud, Capalonga, Daet, Jose Panganiban, Labo, Mercedes, Paracale, San Lorenzo Ruiz, San Vicente, Santa Elena, Talisay and Vinzons in Camarines Norte.
It also include Balatan, Baao, Bato, Bombon, Buhi, Bula, Calabanga, Canaman, Caramoan, Gainza, Libmanan, Lupi, Magarao, Milaor, Nabua, Ocampo, Pasacao, Pili, Presentacion, Sagay, Sagnay, San Fernando, San Jose, Sipocot, Siruma, Tigaon and Tinambac in Camarines Sur; Bagamanoc, Baras, Bato, Caramoran, Gigmoto, Pandan, Panganiban, San Andres, Viga and Virac in Catanduanes.
Rounding off the first batch of LGU passers are the towns of Aroroy, Baleno, Batuan, Balud, Cataingan, Dimasalang, Esperanza, Milagros, Mobo, Monreal, Pio V. Corpuz, Placer, San Fernando, San Jacinto, San Pascual and Uson in Masbate; Barcelona, Bulusan, Casiguran, Castilla, Donsol, Gubat, Irosin, Juban, Magallanes, Pilar, Prieto-Diaz and Magallanes in Sorsogon province.
Mandaon, Masbate was added to the passers’ list last February 15 while Camalig, Daraga, Libon, Malinao and Pio Duran in Albay; Camaligan, Goa, Lagonoy and Minalabac in Camarines Sur were added in February 28 and another three towns, Cabusao, Pamplona and Del Gallego were listed on March 15.
In an interview today, Lawyer Arnaldo Escober, DILG assistant regional director for Bicol, said they will soon start assessment of the passers for the 2019 SGLG award.
Last year, only eight Bicol LGUs earned the award after series of assessment conducted by an inter-agency led by the DILG. Camarines Norte, Legazpi City, Iriga City, Naga City, PAracale, Bula, Siruma, Pilar.
The award was an offshoot of the Seal of Good Housekeeping first introduced by the late former DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo which monitored and awarded LGUs with good performance in internal housekeeping specifically in the areas of local legislation, development planning, resource generation, and resource allocation.
Expounding from SGH, the SGLG originally had 6 basic elements: 1) good financial keeping, 2) disaster preparedness, 3) social protection, 4) business friendliness and competitiveness, 5) environment management, and 6) peace and order. It has now increased to seven with the addition of Tourism, Culture and Arts.
A new issuance, Memorandum Circular 2019-44, stated that for a province to qualify, in additional to the seven areas, at least ten percent of its component cities and municipalities must also be passers.
In the prefatory statement of the memorandum, Interior and Local Government Sec. Eduardo Ano said the award aims to institutionalize the culture of performance among LGUs.
This year, the DIGL has expanded the coverage of the SGLG to include the barangays nationwide.
For a barangay to qualify for the award, it must pass all three core areas—Peace and Order, Financial Administration and Disaster-Preparedness—and at least one of the three essential areas—Social Protection, Business-Friendliness and Competitiveness and Environmental Management.