ILOILO CITY -- The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said that starting this year, barangays will be included in its “Seal of Good Local Governance” (SGLG) award.
In an interview on Thursday, DILG-Iloilo City Director Ferdinand Panes said the department wants to cascade the program down to the lowest political unit, which is the barangay, and this will be implemented for the first time this year.
Panes said they are just waiting for the “technical notes” although barangays have already been informed about it.
“This time around, we will compel our barangays to perform well in accordance with the programs of the department and all other agencies of the government,” he said.
The programs that are being mandated in barangays will compose the criteria for the barangay SGLG. These include environment, disaster and social protection.
“Those who pass the criteria, expect some incentives from the department because that is the aim of the SGLG -- incentivizing best performing LGUs. So our barangays are encouraged to try their best and prove to their constituents that you are worthy of their mandate,” he said.
SGLG passers will get an incentive under the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF). For barangays, the amount could be less than what is being given to provinces, cities and municipalities.
Panes said that the incentive would nonetheless be very helpful because barangays usually lack funds.
“It is very important to the barangay. What is good with the PCF is that it is not a dole-out. They have to comply with certain requirements, like submission of program,” he said.
Under the proposed program, SGLG passers will have to undergo a technical review before their funds are released while constant monitoring would be done on the implementation of the barangay’s programs.
Panes said that barangays need not apply for the SGLG. Instead all the 180 barangays of Iloilo City will be assessed, validated and ranked.
He added that including barangays in the SGLG is very timely because a bill has been approved at the Senate, institutionalizing the program.
“It will now become a law instead of just a program of the department,” he said, adding that the Senate recognized it as a good program to encourage, guide and challenge local government units (LGUs).
He added that while the program provides incentives, hopefully it will also impose sanctions on LGUs that are not performing well.
He added that the SGLG should be taken seriously because it is “the award of all awards of the department and hopefully, once approved as a law, will be the award of all awards of the agencies of government.” (PNA)
