5 Mt. Province towns awarded seal of good housekeeping

By Andrew B. Doga-ong

Tuesday 14th of February 2012

BONTOC, Mt. Province, Feb. 14 (PIA) -- Five more towns in this province were awarded “Seal of Good Housekeeping” (SGH) for passing the good local governance test given last year by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

DILG Provincial Director Rufina Fegcan said latest recipients of the SGH are the municipalities of Bauko, Bontoc, Natonin, Paracelis and Sadanga.

Last week, the Provincial Government under governor Leonard Mayaen received a Certificate of the SGH from DILG for pursuing the “matuwid na daan” governance of the present administration.

In 2010, the municipalities of Besao, Sabangan, Sagada and Tadian were conferred with the SGH for instituting good practices in key governance.

Fegcan explained that the SGHl is conferred to local government units (LGU) in recognition of their exemplary performance in governance, transparency and accountability.

Aside from the honor, the five towns are expected to receive P1 million each Performance Challenge Fund to support priority projects to further improve their services to their constituents.

As holder of the Seal, the LGUs are also automated recipient of the Local Government Support Fund which they will request to be used on their proposed projects they have submitted.

Fegcan said so far, it is only the municipality of Barlig that is not conferred with the SGH in the province for its failure to pass the accountability aspects of local governance. She said Barlig LGU for two years has no municipal budget due to the reported bickering among its municipal officials.Because of the disunity of the Barlig officials, they deprived their constituents of millions of pesos which could fund various development projects in their municipality, commented the DILG provincial director.

While challenging the LGUs to strive more to sustain the good local governance they have instituted so as to reap more benefits or awards, Fegcan bared that DILG is coming up with stricter criteria on good local governance as basis for granting the SGH. (JDP/AD- PIA CAR,Mt.Province)