THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) conferred to the Provincial Government of Tarlac the prestigious 2023 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) and to 16 other Tarlac Local Government Units (LGUs) in recognition of their commitment to efficient leadership and outstanding public service in a ceremony held at the Manila Hotel, morning of December 14.
DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos congratulated the province and its 16 LGUs including the 476 other provinces, cities and municipalities for meeting the stringent criteria for this year’s assessment.
“Pagbati sa ating 2023 SGLG awardees! Tunay na kahanga-hanga ang inyong tagumpay dahil mas mahigpit ang ating batayan sa pagsusuri sa mga pamahalaang lokal ngayong taon. Keep up the good work!” he said.
Enacted through Republic Act No. 11292 or “The Seal of Good Local Governance Act of 2019,” is an institutionalized award, incentive, honor and recognition-based program that encourages LGUs’ commitment to continuously progress and improve their performance along various governance areas.
Of the 493 SGLG awardees, 28 are provinces, 64 cities, and 401 municipalities.
Governor Susan Yap, Vice Governor Carlito David and Tarlac DILG Provincial Director Armi Bactad received the award for the province.
Tarlac city and the municipalities of Anao, Camiling, Capas, Concepcion, Gerona, La Paz, Mayantoc, Moncada, Paniqui, Pura, Ramos, San Clemente, San Manuel, Sta. Ignacia, and Victoria likewise received their respective SGLG awards from Abalos.
A total of 22 LGU awardees for this year are seven-time passers, including the municipality of Victoria, as they were able to sustain their good performance and drive for local reforms since 2015 when the SGLG was first conferred. Tarlac province received its sixth award.
This year, 94 LGUs also entered the circle of awardees for the first time.
Emphasizing the progressive nature of SGLG, the DILG Secretary highlighted the upgraded performance measures, focusing on outcome-oriented efforts to address current challenges in local administration and public service delivery.
“We are now gauging outcome-oriented efforts of the LGUs instead of just their outputs. Dito natin makikita kung may epekto ba talaga ang mga ginagawa ng LGUs sa kanilang mga komunidad,” Abalos said.
For her part, Gov. Yap thanked the DILD and praised all the department heads and employees of the provincial government for the award.
“Thank you to the DILG for recognizing our efforts…we achieved this prestigious award because of the dedication and untiring efforts of all our provincial government department heads and employees…congratulations also to our 15 municipalities and lone city for being SGLG awardees too,” Gov. Yap said.
To receive the SGLG award, LGUs must pass the assessment criteria across various governance areas, namely: financial administration; disaster preparedness; social protection and sensitivity.
Also, health compliance and responsiveness; sustainable education; business-friendliness and competitiveness; safety, peace and order; environmental management; tourism, heritage development, culture and arts; and youth development.
Among all the regions of the country, Region III registered the highest number of SGLG awardees with 84, followed by Region I with 70, and Region II with 41.
All LGU awardees will receive an SGLG marker and the SGLG Incentive Fund of P4-million for provinces, P2.3-million for cities, and P1.8-million for municipalities. The SGLG-IF shall be utilized to support their local development initiatives aligned with national goals.@—Arvin F. M. Cabalu
