PUGO, La Union – The fifth-class municipality has stamped its class over similarly-situated towns in the province after it reaped various national, regional and provincial awards during the first 18 months of its new leadership, and helped gain the recognition of other local officials in the same boat.
Pugo, headed by its dynamic and hardworking Mayor Priscilla Marrero-Martin, Vice Mayor Isidro Dacpano, and members of the municipal council as well as department heads, was one of the few municipalities in the province to be awarded the coveted Seal of Good Local governance (SGLG) by the Department of Interior and Local government (DILG) after it complied to the stringent criteria in terms of compliance to the government’s thrust of transparent and accountable governance.
The SGLG is given by DILG to municipalities, cities, and provinces that excel in the fields of implementing programs and projects relative to good financial housekeeping, effective and efficient local disaster risk reduction and management planning, enhanced social protection, and business-friendly endeavors that translate to the improved delivery of basic services to the people in their areas of jurisdiction.
Aside from being given the 2016 SGLG award, Pugo was also chosen by the National Council for the Welfare and Protection of Children as one of the child-friendly municipalities in the country for 2016 because of the enhanced implementation of various programs and projects geared towards the welfare and protection of women and children in the municipality through the active participation of the private sector and the barangay officials, among other stakeholders, who worked hand in hand to uplift the image of the locality.
Further, the Regional Development Council (RDC) of the Ilocos Region awarded the Tapuakan River in the municipality as the cleanest and safest inland body of water in the region, while the La Union provincial government also issued a similar recognition to the same body of water for being the cleanest and safest inland body of water in the province.
Pugo will be given P3 million pesos for the SGLG award and P1 million pesos for the Tapuakan River as the cleanest and safest inland body of water in the province.
“We attribute our initial success to the unrelenting and uncompromising support of our fellow local officials and most especially our people to the aggressive implementation of our programs and our projects geared towards helping improve the overall status of the municipality coupled with the enhanced delivery of basic services to our constituents,” Martin stressed.
The local chief executive that for the cash reward that the municipality has received for the cleanest and safest inland body of water, the fund will be used for the construction of a comfort room within the vicinity of the Tapuakan River so that tourists and residents visiting the place will have a place to relax and dispose of their basic necessities to sustain the efforts to preserve and protect the cleanliness of the river system.
Mayor Martin expressed optimism that with the continued unity, teamwork and solidarity of the people of Pugo, the municipality will be able to reap more awards which will be for the benefit of the residents of the locality in the future.
By HENT
