Lanao Norte employees study good practices of Agusan del Sur LGU

Thursday 24th of May 2012

TUBOD, Lanao del Norte, May 24 -- Twenty-six employees representing the different departments of the provincial government of Lanao del Norte, spearheaded by the Provincial Roads Management Facility (PRMF) under the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), attended a benchmarking activity at the Agusan del Sur capitol building last May 16 to 18.

The benchmarking activity formally dubbed “Benchmarking in Agusan del Sur: A Peer to Peer Learning between the Provincial Government of Lanao del Norte and Agusan del Sur” aims to enable the participating employees to identify relevant good practices and processes of the host province.

The provincial employees will then assess if the observed practice can be replicated in their own offices along with the Community Based Monitoring Information System, Human Resource Information System, and internal control and internal audit systems.

The Australian aid supports the anti-poverty programs of the Philippine government especially those focusing on increasing the level of government expenditure on social services and infrastructure, supporting improvements to national level budgeting and public financial management, and improving public sector management of road infrastructure at the provincial level.

Agusan del Sur is one of the pioneering provincial partners of the PRMF. The province is now on its third cycle of operations making them one of the top provinces to benefit from PRMF’s projects.

The benchmarking workshop started with a courtesy call to Agusan del Sur Governor Adolph Edward Plaza followed by a tour to the facilities to better appreciate the physical aspects of the practice.

“One of the good practices to improve our system here is to give an opportunity to the younger generation. Train them and make them participate in our operations so that later on, they will be able to master the tasks to make our system more effective and efficient,” noted Governor Plaza.

The activity also exposed the participants to the fully automated payroll system of the host province, which could be replicated back at their home province.

“This trip made us realized that with the right procedures and by using the latest technology, a lot can be achieved at a much lower cost. This translates to a more efficient and effective governance for our local government units,” expressed Shahanie Macalimbon of Provincial Community Affairs Office. (SMB & VNL/PIO-LDN/PIA10)