BAGUIO CITY August 12 – The Cordillera office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG-CAR) disclosed that only 8 out of the 83 local governments in the region were able to qualify for the stringent screening for the Seal of Good Local governance that will allow them to avail of additional funds for their priority development projects from the government’s Performance Challenge Fund.
John M. Castañeda, DILG-CAR regional director, said the provinces of Abra, Benguet and Kalinga were the early qualifiers for the Seal of Good Local Governance in the provincial level that will guarantee the said provinces P7 million each from the Performance challenge Fund for this year.
In the city level, the DILG-CAR official revealed that only Baguio City passed the final evaluation for the Seal of Good Local governance for the city level, thus, it is qualified to receive P5 million from the same source of fund as its prize for achieving the coveted seal.
Of the 75 municipalities regionwide, he cited only four municipalities were able to qualify for the issuance of the Seal of Good Local governance that will earn them P1 million each from the Performance Challenge Fund for their respective priority development projects and contribute in enhancing the delivery of basic services to the people.
The municipalities that were able to qualify for the seal were San Juan, Abra; Tublay, Benguet; Lamut, Ifugao and Calanasan, Apayao.
We are extending to the concerned local governments the appropriate technical assistance for them to be able to pass the core standards of screening those who will be qualified for the coveted seal. It is just that the levels of standards of the seal were significantly increased to higher levels, thus, the provinces, cities and municipalities had a difficult time achieving the prescribed standards,” Castañeda stressed.
He added the three major standards where the performance of the local governments are evaluated are on good financial housekeeping, the existence of a disaster risk reduction and management plan and the provision of social protection services to the people.
Further, the DILG-CAR official said the local governments are also evaluated on peace and order, environmental preservation and protection programs among others in order to qualify for the grant of the seal and the corresponding prize attached to it.
While all local governments were able to perform above standards in good financial housekeeping, he admitted that most of the local government failed to achieved the necessary preparation of their respective disaster risk reduction and management plan while others were not able to qualify for the provision of social protection services to the people.
He asserted one of the most difficult criteria to achieve is the compliance of public and private structures within the jurisdiction of a local government to the Accessibility Law that will guarantee convenience to persons with disabilities and senior citizens.
He cited the DILG-CAR will be available to extend whatever assistance needed by the local governments for them to complete the criteria and that they will be able to qualify for the seal in order to increase the internally generated funds for the benefit of the greater majority of the populace.